An untimely turnover in the red zone by Apollo proved costly, as it led to the game-winning drive for Henderson County Friday. The Colonels took their first lead of the night in the final minutes and held on for a 19-14 win at Eagle Stadium.
Up 14-13, the Eagles were looking to close the door with a drive late in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Damian Lovinsky broke off back-to-back big runs up the middle, splitting the defense for carries of 28 and 21 yards.
A couple plays later, though, Lovinsky coughed up the ball on the 9-yard line when he was hit by several Colonels.
Henderson County then put together its best drive of the night, gaining in big chunks as they ran the clock down. Gains of 22, 11 and 16 yards — plus 15 yards for a face mask penalty against Apollo — set the Colonels up for the late score.
Ben Dalton tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brayden Powell Coleman to take the lead with 1:58 to play.
Apollo couldn’t get a drive going, and four plays later a turnover on downs gave the ball back to Henderson County. The Colonels were able to run out the clock.
“I thought defensively we played about as good as we could,” Apollo head coach John Edge said. “We just have to keep doing the little things right. At the end we got a little bit bad on our tackling, but we have to keep doing what we’ve got to do.”
Until the final minutes, it was an impressive defensive showing for the Eagles. The two biggest highlights came from Mykel Whitney, who nabbed a pair of interceptions.
“We expect those kinds of plays from him,” Edge said. “He does a great job of getting picks and things like that.”
Apollo struck first on the opening drive of the game, capping a 78-yard drive with a highlight-reel catch. John Lynn bobbled a pass for about 10 yards before hauling it in with one hand and running in for a 28-yard touchdown.
After trading interceptions on back-to-back plays, Henderson County tied the game with 5:05 left in the first quarter.
Harold Patterson put Apollo back on top with a 10-yard run for a 14-7 lead with 1:37 to play before halftime.
“We were able to run the football down their throat, and we’ve just got to keep doing that,” Edge said. “We have to keep working and getting them better.”
Henderson County threatened to score midway through the third quarter, but Whitney picked off a pass inside the 10-yard line. They got the ball back quickly, though, and eventually scored on a 10-yard run. The extra point attempt was blocked, leaving them trailing by one with 8:31 to go.
Edge said they have to keep working on the little things going forward.
“We have to do better in practice,” he said. “We have to do a better job of ball security. We have to keep making plays. We’re almost there. We’re not there yet.”
