“Do it for him,” were the words of Head Coach Matt Brannon as the Panthers had a brief moment before they took the field after Bryson Parm was taken out on a stretcher having suffered a foot injury. Daviess County did just that, getting a rushing touchdown from junior quarterback Lake Wilson with 8.5 seconds to go for the 34-27 win to fend off the late comeback by North Hardin and keep the Panthers’ postseason alive.
The Panthers wasted no time setting the tone for the game, opening play with a recovered onside kick to put them at the 46. They began slowly moving upfield, before junior quarterback Lake Wilson found junior Luke Floyd in the endzone for a 28-yard touchdown and a 6-0 lead with 9:03 left in the first quarter after the missed extra point.
North Hardin responded well though, getting a 53-yard pass to move them to the three facing 3rd and 11 on its opening drive. The very next play senior Kye Boyd took the handoff in for a touchdown, but a bad snap on the extra point left the game tied at 6-6 with 6:22 left in the first.
Following a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, a short run by senior Bryson Parm preceded another big play by Wilson and Floyd. This time the junior wide receiver flew past the defending cornerback to get free for an 73-yard touchdown, giving Daviess County a 13-6 lead after the made PAT with 6:02 left in the first quarter.
The Trojans answered right back though, scoring on a 37-yard rushing touchdown from junior Shaun Boykins following a fake handoff to even things up at 13-13 with 3:20 to go in the first quarter.
The Panthers took their time on their next drive, working upfield bit by bit until they were facing fourth and goal at the one. Senior quarterback Jake Ball came in to get the job done this time, keeping it himself and bullying his way into the endzone and giving them a 20-13 lead after the made extra point with 9:45 left in the second quarter.
With just under five minutes to go in the first half Daviess County had a chance to give themselves a two-touchdown lead, but Central Hardin was able to intercept a pass from Wilson to put them at the 24 with 4:27 left in the first half. But the Panthers were able to force a fumble and recover it later in the drive, leading to a three-yard rushing touchdown by Parm and a 27-13 lead with 2:25 left in the first half to swing momentum their way.
Daviess County tried to add onto that momentum with a fake punt on their first drive out of the locker room, but it was to no avail and gave North Hardin the ball at the 40 with 10:21 left in the third. The Panthers were nearly able to keep the Trojans off the board with a goal line stand, but a costly penalty led to a two-yard rushing touchdown for Boyd and made it 27-20 with 7:20 left in the quarter.
Neither team was able to get much going for the remainder of the third, as Daviess County took possession and their one-touchdown lead into the fourth. The Panthers proceeded to keep their drive alive with a fourth down conversion early in the final quarter of play, but were unable to do it twice and gave North Hardin the ball at the 31 with 9:02 left to play thanks to a turnover on downs.
The Trojans took advantage of the opportunity, putting together a nice drive but facing fourth and 1 at the 31 needing to score in a big moment. It was none other than Boyd who answered the call, taking a handoff to the crib for a 31-yard rushing touchdown to make it 27-27 with 5:45 left to play.
Daviess County got a few nice runs from Parm to open up the drive, but it was a nice pass from Wilson who rolled out to hit junior Tyson Sherron on third and nine that kept them going and put them at the 36 with 4:05 to play. A penalty later in the drive moved them back to the 40, but the Panthers responded with a nice run from Ball to move them forward again with a first down.
Daviess County was able to answer the call again later in the drive on third and two on a nice spin move by Parm for the first down with 25 seconds to play, but the running back went down and the Panthers players instantly signaled for athletic trainers and a stretcher was brought onto the field.
It was obvious just how gruesome the injury was as you could hear a pin drop at Panther Stadium, but Brannon made sure to go pray for one of the team’s key leaders and tried to calm his players down as he was taken off the field so his efforts weren’t in vain with more football to go in a tie game late in the fourth quarter.
“Think about Bryson,” Brannon said. “Do it for him. Try to wipe that out of your memory as much as possible and go and give it all you’ve got for three or four plays. That’s what they did. Just a great way to end it.”
Daviess County did just that as Wilson was able to scramble out of the pocket and find his way to the endzone with 8.5 seconds left to play, as Panthers fans erupted having just witnessed the final blow of a 34-27 win that will send the boys in red and white to the second round of the postseason.
It was a heartbreaking thing to watch Parm—someone who’s battled so many injuries but has been a crucial part of the Panthers success this season—taken off the field as his senior season came to close. He was instrumental in the win with 143 rushing yards and a touchdown on 32 carries, while having 40 rushing yards on the final drive of the game.
“I just hate it for him, because he’s such a special player and he’s battled adversity his whole life,” Brannon said. “He missed his entire junior season and basically we jumped on his back and said carry us this year and he did until he broke. It’s sad for him that his career ends that way, but I’m just very proud of what he’s done while he’s been here.”
But Daviess County showed up big for the senior running back, getting the win that he helped them earn to keep their postseason alive and the Panthers coaching staff couldn’t be more proud.
“You wanna be proud of these guys for them to answer with basically no time to even think about it and to come out here and punch it in,” Brannon said. “We didn’t play our best game, but it’s the playoffs. You win and you move on, so we’ll take it.”
Wilson had a solid game under center despite an interception on the night, throwing for 255 yards and two touchdowns on 17-29 passing to go along with 35 rushing yards and a touchdown on five carries. Floyd was his main target on the night, catching seven passes for 177 and two touchdowns in the win.
While the offense was stifled by the Trojans for much of the second half, Brannon was proud of the defense for making big plays when they needed to late and offensively sealing the deal despite plenty of adversity late in the game.
I’d like to go back and see what they did to really hurt us,” Brannon said. “The inside backers were really aggressive there. They didn’t really change their scheme. I think they just outplayed us a little bit. They played a little bit inspired. We kind of spun our wheels on that first drive… We kind of lost some momentum there and were never able to gain it back until that last drive. The defense came up with a big stop for sure.”
It’s a bittersweet win for Daviess County as they will be without Parm on the road in their second round postseason matchup, but Brannon is confident that the Panthers can prepare well this week and give themselves a chance to win against Central Hardin next Friday.
“It’s going to be hard to fill that void with Bryson because that’s kind of been our catalyst,” Brannon said. “But I think Lake’s come along really well, so we’ll just have to reevaluate. Jack Ball can play anywhere on the field, so he’ll get some carries for us for sure. We’ll have to celebrate tonight and kind of take our time and start breaking down Central Hardin.”
