Cross-town foes Apollo and Daviess County collided at Eagle Stadium on Friday, with the Panthers walking away with a 26-0 victory. Both teams effectively moved the ball but struggled to convert until Daviess County got rolling in the second half.
Daviess County (5-5) first got on the board after Luke Floyd busted loose for a 45-yard run from deep in Panther territory early in the second quarter. He followed the big run by converting a broken play into a 13-yard touchdown with 10:05 left in the half.
Apollo (2-8) advanced the ball to the 10-yard line and the 35-yard line on first-half drives but couldn’t push it over the goal line. After more missed opportunities from both sides, Daviess County entered the locker room with a one-touchdown lead.
The Eagles started the second half with the ball after a dynamic kickoff return. The Panthers quickly responded as Floyd intercepted a screen pass on the ensuing play.
Apollo head coach John Edge credited Daviess County’s defense in the loss. He added that his team has to do a better job of limiting turnovers to find success in the postseason.
“They did a good job of shutting us down, and then, they started taking some shots in the second half,” Edge said. “We had some tough turnovers and gave up an onside kick, which hurt. They got on a roll and did a good job creating points.”
Daviess County head coach Matt Brannon also gave a nod to his team’s defense. He also credited his staff for making quality adjustments coming out of the locker room at the half.
“I’m very proud of our defense, which continues to play outstanding,” Brannon said. “Offensively, our coaches did a great job making halftime adjustments. They gave us a bit of a different look than what we expected up front, but we adjusted well in the second half.”
Brannon was also pleased that his team ended the game with no turnovers for the first time this year.
Following his interception, Floyd meticulously led the Panthers downfield before converting a 30-yard touchdown pass to Russ Crowe. With a 14-0 lead and 9:53 left in the third quarter, they followed the score with an on-side kick recovery.
The game started to get chippy, with officials calling multiple personal fouls on each side. The flags proved more detrimental to the Eagles, as Daviess County took advantage of the field position and scored on an 8-yard pass from Floyd to Jace Hunt on a post route.
Minutes into the final frame, Floyd connected with Crowe again — this time, a 10-yard touchdown pass to the outside for a 26-0 lead. From then on, it was all clock management, with Floyd breaking loose for some explosive quarterback keepers and finding open receivers when.
Floyd finished the contest with 3 passing touchdowns on 159 yards and led all rushers with 148 yards and 1 touchdown.
“Credit to Apollo – they did a good job getting some pressure on us. Luke was just able to make some plays with his feet and break off some runs that weren’t designed to go outside, but they were huge pick-ups,” Brannon said. “He also converted some big passing plays on 3rd and 4th down.”
Gatlin Maysey added 21 yards rushing for the Panthers, while Crowe led the receiving core with 2 touchdowns on 67 yards. Hunt added 76 yards in the air and a touchdown for himself.
Apollo’s Johnson completed 12 of 31 attempts on 127 yards passing. Niles Board finished with 68 yards on the ground, while Bratcher led the Eagle’s receiving core with 49 yards.
Daviess County will face North Hardin next week during the first round of the playoffs. The unlikely match-up comes as one of North Hardin’s players was ruled ineligible for the first 7 games of the season, moving their record from 3-4 to 0-7 during that span and solidifying them as the 3 seed in the opposite district rather than the 1 seed.
The Trojans defeated Daviess County 45-16 before the KHSAA declared it a forfeit because North Hardin failed to submit the appropriate paperwork for a transfer. That player has since been ruled eligible.
Daviess County will host North Hardin on Friday at 7 p.m. at Reid Stadium in the first round of the 6A playoffs.
“We’re ready for whoever we play,” Brannon said. “We were a different team when we played them during week 4. We’re healthy now, Luke Floyd is at quarterback, and we’re at home. The last time we played them was a turning point in our season because we hadn’t scored in 3 games and traveled there and scored 2 touchdowns and 2 field goals.
Apollo will travel to Bowling Green for the first round of the 5A playoffs. The Eagles lost 57-7 to Bowling Green earlier this year. Edge remained optimistic about his team’s chances next week.
“Everybody is 0-0 at this point in time,” he said. “Everyone has a shot – it doesn’t matter who you are. I’ve told kids before that Paducah Tilghman went 3-7 and won a state title, so we aren’t giving up.”
