The Panthers will look to close out the regular season strong after securing a first round home playoff game last week, hitting the road to take on an undefeated Warren East.
Daviess County sits at 6-3 overall coming into the final week of the regular season, coming off a 28-0 crosstown district victory over Apollo at home last week. Senior Bryson Parm led the way offensively for the Panthers, tallying 191 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
Junior quarterback Lake Wilson threw for 146 yards and a touchdown on 8-14 passing, with senior Decker Renfrow being his main target with three catches, a touchdown and 117 yards. Senior quarterback Jack Ball also helped out in the backfield, rushing for 54 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
Daviess County will need its offense to be sharp again this week, knowing that they will be taking on a Raiders team that has scored over 35 points in every game this season en route to their 9-0 record. Warren East is led by standout sophomore quarterback Dane Parsley, who throws for 161 passing yards and nearly three touchdowns per game to go along with 114 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns per game.
Along with a pair of wide receivers in junior Tray Price and senior Ahmad Alexander that catch over 60 and 50 yards per game, Parsley also gets help out of the backfield in the form of 72 rushing yards and a touchdown per game from senior Quinton Hollis. Along with wanting to set the tempo for the game early on the offensive end, the Panthers will need to dialed in defensively to pull off an upset victory.
“Warren East has a fantastic QB and several talented and athletic receivers,” Head Coach Matt Brannon said. “We will be tested in our secondary for sure. The QB is also a strong runner, so we must contain him all night. Defensively they are big upfront and athletic in the secondary. We must establish our run game early.”
With the district tournament seeding already set, the result of the contest with Warren East is simply for bragging rights. However, Brannon and company know just how much a tough win could do for them going into the postseason.
“Although this game has no bearing on our postseason, the chance to go against a quality opponent going into the postseason will be big,” Brannon said. “We could generate a lot of momentum with a win against an undefeated team.”
In order to come out on top Daviess County will need to get on the board early and look to keep the Raiders offense off the field. With the time they’ve put in to prepare for the road matchup this week, Brannon and the Panthers are ready for the challenge.
“Our energy in practice all week has been as good as it has been all year,” Brannon said. “If we can replicate the way we practiced this week on Friday we will be in great shape.”
