Despite getting off to a slow start the Red Devils closed out the second half of the night strong, silencing Daviess County in the second half en route to a 24-14 win in front of their home crowd.
The Panthers opened up the night strong, slowly moving upfield thanks to senior Bryson Parm and Decker Renfrow. But a fumble around the 50 with 7:45 to go in the quarter gave Owensboro a chance to swing momentum with good field position.
Senior Kenyatta Carbon was able to get a first down to start the drive, later helping them move to the 16 along with a Daviess County flag. Carbon nearly had a touchdown shortly after, but the Panthers were able to poke it loose and recover the ball to start at the six with 5:58 left in the quarter.
Neither team was able to capitalize on the turnovers, but Owensboro was able to get on the board just before the quarter came to a close. As senior quarterback Kasey Boone led the charge on the drive, it was senior Andrew Lanz that was able to close out the drive with a 31-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead in the second.
The Red Devils seemed like they were going to take over in the beginning of the second quarter, as senior defensive back Zach Clark blocked a punt by Daviess County and sophomore Dereon Crowe took it 20 yards to the house to put them up 10-0 with just under nine minutes on the clock.
“They ran a protect punt and I came through and I’m supposed to collide with one of their lineman that’s protecting,” Clark said. “Well he blocked in to one of our guys that broke through, so I had an open lane and I was like I gotta capitalize on this opportunity. So I took a dive out for it… I turned around and I saw Derreon looking at it and I knew there was only guy back there who could get it—the kicker. So I just turned around and started blocking him and he took it to the house.”
However, a tough pass interference call on senior Kanye Johnson led to a 53-yard bomb from Ball to Renfrow, making it a 10-6 ballgame with 5:45 left in the second quarter after the PAT was blocked.
Renfrow came up big again just over a minute later, this time picking the ball off around midfield and taking it 55 yards to the endzone. After an encroachment on the Red Devils, Parm was able to take a handoff to capitalize on the two-point conversion and make it a 14-10 game with 4:30 left in the second quarter.
But Owensboro responded swiftly, getting a 69-yard rushing touchdown from Carbon on the ensuing drive to jump back out in front 17-14.
After forcing the Panthers to punt later in the quarter, Boone got one last chance to lead the Red Devils to the endzone. He would hit Rogers for a 20-yard gain, to give them a first down, before a flag led them to the 19.
Following a short run, Boone hit Rogers for a 16-yard touchdown, making it 24-14 Owensboro with 53.2 left in the first half after the PAT. The score would remain the same heading into halftime, with the Red Devils receiving coming out of the locker room.
Owensboro would end up punting on its first drive of the second half, as Daviess County tried to make up some ground. The Panthers would methodically move up the field with the help of their backfield on the ensuing drive, as a couple of big runs from Parm moved them to the 12.
However, the Red Devils stood their ground, forcing Daviess County to go for it on fourth down and falling just short. This gave Owensboro possession up 24-14 with six minutes to go in the third.
The Red Devils came up just short on the drive, as Lanz missed a field goal attempt to leave the game at 24-14 shortly into the fourth quarter. The Panthers got multiple drives to close out the contest, but nothing was able to come of them as Owensboro was able to grab the 24-14 win.
Boone threw for 98 yards and a touchdown on 8-12 passing on the night, going along with an interception. His primary target was senior Khalil Rogers who had three catches, 46 yards and a touchdown, while Carbon grabbed 156 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries to round out the Red Devils offensive attack.
Head Coach Jay Fallin felt as though his team could’ve been a little sharper on the offensive end, but tipped his cap to Daviess County for not making it easy on them.
“When you don’t get a ton of scoring opportunities or a ton of possessions in general, you really gotta make the most of them,” Fallin said. “I gotta give a lot of credit to Coach Brannon and his staff on the defensive side of the ball especially. They were ready to go tonight and they really frustrated us with some things that we’re going to have to get on the film and get cleaned up.”
Defensively Owensboro was able to force a pair of turnovers on the night, something that Clark said truly comes down to effort for he and his teammates—some that he’s been playing with since his Pop Warner days. Senior Jeremiah Goodwin agreed with the notion, stating that they always want to create havoc defensively in order to change the game.
“We always want to come in with a lot of focus and we want to maximize our opportunities to score,” Goodwin said. “So if we have a chance to make a defensive touchdown, a scoop and score, a pick six and all that of course we want to take it. Then special teams, we rep that in practice as much as anything.”
Fallin said that while his team gave great physical effort on the night, that they just seemed a step slow and haven’t been able to return to form since week one.
“I thought last week we were firing on all cylinders offensively and didn’t play the way we needed to defensively, “ Fallin said. “And then this week I thought it was just the opposite. We made the plays we needed to defensively, but we couldn’t get what we needed to get done offensively.”
Fallin takes the blame for the team missing a beat at some point over the last few weeks, saying that he’s going to do some soul searching this week to figure out what they have to do better going into a road matchup with Owensboro Catholic next Friday at 7 p.m.
“I told the guys this ‘whatever we did, whatever I did to get us ready, whatever we did as a team to be ready in week one to play against the defending 6A state champs at their place who just beat Louisville Male, we’ve lost that these last two weeks,” Fallin said. “We’ve gotta find it and get it back in a hurry and that’s on me. It starts with me.”
While the Red Devils improve to 2-1 overall, the Panthers on the other hand fall to 2-1 with the loss. Unable to best the opposing team at Rash Stadium once again, Head Coach Matt Brannon felt like they just missed the mark.
“It’s just disappointing to be here three years in a row and not being able to get over the hump,” Brannon said. “I feel like going into this week, we feel like we matched up with them well and we did. Execution, errors on special teams hurt us. Offensively not taken advantage of the things that were there [as well]. Hats off to OHS, they’re a great football team.”
Renfrow had another big game for the Panthers, grabbing a pick six and earning 75 yards and a touchdown on three catches. Parm was big out of the backfield with 106 yards on 21 carries, while Ball had a solid game under center by throwing for 125 yards and a touchdown on 8-16 passing and rushing for 64 yards on 12 carries.
While Brannon feels as though they did play well and will benefit from having played in a playoff-like atmosphere, he and his team are not pleased with the end result and feel as though if a few things went their way that a win could’ve been in order.
“There’s no moral victories,” Brannon said. “There’s going to be people in this community that think that because we played them within 10 points that it’s a victory for us. But you know, we should win that game. To be honest with you we were the better team, we just didn’t execute.”
Now the Panthers are hoping to get back to what they do every week, practicing hard, fine-tuning and preparing for their next matchup. This will be on the road against Ryle, as kickoff is set for 7 p.m. next Friday.
“Obviously special teams is going to be a big focus for us this week,” Brannon said. “Getting healthy, that’s going to help too. Not that we’re injured or dinged up, just two city-county games in a row takes a toll on you for sure. And it’s no cupcake next week.”
