Daviess County nearly pulled off a comeback win after forcing overtime on the road, but were unable to silence the Raider’s offense in a 49-48 loss to close out the regular season
Warren East tried to set the tone for the game early, getting the first touchdown of the game with 9:04 left in the first quarter after recovering a fumble on the game-opening kickoff. The Panthers were able to respond with a minute left in the quarter though, as senior running back Bryson Parm ran one in to make it a 7-7 game.
Parm was back at it as time expired in the first quarter, getting another short rushing touchdown to give Daviess County a 14-7 lead. It wasn’t until halfway through the second quarter that either team got on the board, but it was a short run by #18 with 6:38 on the clock that did the trick.
The PAT was no good though, leaving the Panthers out in front 14-13. Daviess County quickly took advantage of the miscue by the Raiders, getting an 83-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Lake Wilson to junior Luke Floyd to take a 21-13 lead with 5:33 left in the first half.
The Raiders had the answer two minutes later, getting back on the board with an eight-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Dane Parsley to senior Ahmad Alexander and completing a two-point conversion to even the game up at 21-21 with 3:12 left in the quarter. After a quick stop by Warren East they were able to find the endzone once again, as Parsley and Alexander connected this time for a 40-yard touchdown to grab a 28-21 lead with 12 seconds on the clock and take the lead into halftime.
The Raiders tried to take advantage of the newly gained momentum to open up the second half, scoring shortly into the third quarter on an eight-yard run by Lee to make it a 35-21 game. The Panthers were able to bounce back with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Floyd again to cut it to 35-28 later in the third, but just over a minute later a 48-yard touchdown pass by Parsley gave Warren East a 42-28 lead with 2:22 left in the quarter.
But Daviess County wasn’t going away, cutting its deficit to 42-34 but missing the PAT following a 50-yard run from Parm with 10:39 left to play in the game. The Panthers were able to keep Warren East’s offense at bay for the remainder of the quarter, allowing them to force overtime tied at 42-42 thanks to Wilson finding junior Luke Hagedorn for a 40-yard touchdown and Floyd for a two-point conversion with 36.3 seconds left in the fourth.
The Raiders deferred to give Daviess County the ball at the 10-yard line to start overtime, which they took advantage of and eventually scored on facing fourth and goal at the one. Senior quarterback Jack Ball was able to run it in himself, but the PAT was blocked to put the Panthers out in front 48-42.
Warren East then got its chance from the 10-yard line, as they jumped on the opportunity with a rushing touchdown from Parsley. The Raiders sank the PAT on the very next play, giving them the 49-48 victory over Daviess County.
“It was a tough loss, but I was really proud of how our guys continually fought all night,” Head Coach Brannon said. “They never gave up and never doubted that they could claw back in. So there were a lot of good things that happened out of it besides the score.”
Brannon continued speaking about his team’s persistence throughout the night, saying that they played well on both sides of the ball. Offensively Wilson threw for 293 yards and three touchdowns on 18-22 passing, while Floyd (four catches, 122 yards, two touchdowns) and junior Russ Crowe both surpassed 100 receiving yards (10 catches, 115 yards) and Parm had a career night for the Panthers.
“That was the thing I was really proud of them about, is that I don’t think they ever felt like they were out of it,” Brannon said. “Offensively we were moving the ball consistently all night. We got into a little bit of a lull there. We’re calling this the Bryson Parm flu game because he’d been sick all day and was literally throwing up on the field and ended up running for 240 yards, his career best… Lake threw the ball well tonight and Jack Ball was tough as nails and got us tough yards every time that he was back there.”
Daviess County was just unable to completely slow down Warren East’s offense, with Parsley’s throwing for 196 yards and two touchdowns on 14-18 passing and 101 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 21 carries leading the way.
“Their quarterback is phenomenal,” Brannon said. “He made some great throws all night long and he ran the ball hard. He was definitely the key to their success and they did a good job of just staying with it. Five is a heck of a receiver and made some great plays for them too.”
The Panthers were able to make the Raiders ground game less dynamic in the second half of the contest, but not having their lead safety in senior Decker Renfrow made it hard for them to contain one of the best offenses Daviess County has seen all season.
“We made a little bit of a change defensively in the second half,” Brannon said. “We added another lineman to the line of scrimmage and that helped slow down their run attack… Probably facing one of the top-two quarterbacks we faced all year and definitely the best receiving corps and not having your best safety back there, they took advantage of that.”
While Brannon and company are unhappy with the result, they know that how they played against a talented and undefeated team was nowhere near disappointing. The Panthers will study the film and get back to practice next week, hoping to use the game as a springboard going into their first round district matchup with North Hardin at 7 p.m. at home on Friday, Nov. 4.
“There’s a lot of positives we can take from it,” Brannon said. “We are able to host next week so that puts us in a good position to make a run.”
