Daviess County wasn’t able to turn defense into offense on Friday night in order to bounce back from a tough loss to Owensboro in week three, falling to Ryle 23-7 on the road despite forcing multiple turnovers.
It took five minutes for someone to get on the board in the contest, with Ryle getting a field goal to strike first. The 22-yard field goal by junior Josh Line gave them a 3-0 lead with 7:36 left in the first quarter.
But the Panthers were able to respond before the quarter came to a close, as senior Decker Renfrow was able to continue his strong play defensively so far this season with another pick six. Following the extra point, Daviess County had its first lead of the game at 7-3 with 39 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The Raiders were able to get their first touchdown of the night halfway through the second quarter to reclaim the lead, making it 10-7 with a 10-yard passing touchdown with 5:47 left in the first half. The Panthers had a chance to grab the lead going into halftime after a pick from junior Luke Floyd with 2:45 left in the half, but nothing came of it as they went into halftime trailing 10-7.
The score held true for the entirety of the third quarter, as neither team was able to find the endzone coming out of the locker room. However, it was Ryle that was able to get its offense going in the fourth.
It was a pair of rushing touchdowns that did the trick, with a three-yard carry from senior Lukas Colemire and a 14-yard carry by senior Luke Zimmerman giving the Raiders what they needed to wrap up a 23-7 loss for the Panthers.
Despite Daviess County’s defense grabbing three interceptions and forcing a fumble on the night, it didn’t translate into offense. The Panthers ran for 46 yards on 32 carries in the game, while Ryle ran for 263 yards and junior quarterback Logan Verax counting for 134 of those yards on 19 carries.
Daviess County also wasn’t able to get much going through the air, as senior quarterback Jack Ball threw for 69 yards on 7-15 passing and junior Lake Wilson threw for 28 yards on 3-4 passing.
The Panthers wrap up their three-game road stint going 1-2, sitting at 2-2 overall before they will look to snap their two-game losing streak next week when they return home to host Madisonville-North Hopkins at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16.
