Daviess County will look to bounce back from a tough overtime loss last week in the first round of the postseason, as they hope to start a lengthy playoff run with a home win against North Hardin on Friday.
The Panthers are coming off a hard fought battle with Warren East to close out the regular season, falling 49-48 in overtime as the Raiders remained undefeated on the season. Daviess County’s offense had a strong game on the road that night, getting 293 passing yards and three touchdowns on 18-22 passing from junior quarterback Lake Wilson.
Juniors Luke Floyd (four catches, 122 yards, two touchdowns) and Russ Crowe (10 catches, 115 yards) were his primary targets, as they combined for 237 of the team’s 293 receiving yards while junior Luke Hagedorn had the other touchdown reception for the Panthers. Senior Bryson Parm also had one his best games in his four years with Daviess County out of the backfield, rushing for a career high 241 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries despite battling some sickness on the day.
Head Coach Matt Brannon said that the Panthers will need to utilize the ground game well again this week, noting that they can beat a tough defense if they set the tone for the first round matchup early.
“Their defense is also athletic and tackles well in space,” Brannon said. “We must take advantage of our size and ability to run the football. If we can establish the run game early and control the pace of the game, we should be in good shape.”
Brannon also said that ensuring that they don’t cough up the ball often while creating havoc defensively will be key, as the little things—including health issues that they are dealing with—can come back to bite you in the postseason.
“We have to take care of the football and try to replicate some of our early season success at turning teams over,” Brannon said. “We also need to get healthy. It’s that time of year when minor illness and injuries could be the difference in going home or going on a run. Focus and energy is the key for practice, then we must carry that energy over to Friday.”
Daviess County will have its work cut out for them too, as the Trojans have a nice one-two punch in senior quarterback Jayden Thorpe and senior running back Kye Boyd. Thorpe has thrown for 153 yards per game this season to go along with 1.6 touchdown passes per game, with his primary target on the squad being junior Shaun Boykins by almost 30 receptions (79.7 yards per game, one touchdown reception per game).
Thorpe also runs for 49 yards per game, while Boyd truly holds things down in the backfield with 92 rushing yards and a touchdown per game. Brannon and the Panthers know that they will have to be sharp mentally and physically in order to advance to the second round of the postseason, but they are ready for the challenge at 7 p.m. against North Hardin under the Friday night lights.
“This should be a great opening round matchup for us,” Brannon said. “They are very similar to teams that we have played this year. They have an athletic quarterback and have speed in a lot of positions. Their offensive line is big and moves well. We must contain their QB and be ready to tackle their wide receivers in space.”
