In the “olden days”—the 70s and 80s, a visit to Fort Campbell was a scary thing, not so much because of all the guys in uniform carrying loaded weapons, but because Coach Marshall Patterson’s high school football team was always loaded. Coach Patterson seemed to get along well with the commanding officer at the base, and together they were able to assemble strong fighting units wearing both military and football uniforms.
Some of Russellville’s best teams finished seasons with only a couple of losses, and one of them was usually to Fort Campbell.
The Falcons haven’t been as formidable of late. They were good while Antonio Andrews—who went on to an excellent career at WKU and was the featured running back for the Tennessee Titans last year—was their quarterback.
The Panthers, however, have had their way with the Falcons the past two seasons and are on a three-game winning streak against them. After winning 42-35 in 2013, Coach John Myers’ team has won 49-20 and 42-21 over the sons of soldiers who live in the army base.
The Falcons’ defense has really struggled of late. During last year’s 2-9 campaign, Fort Campbell went 2-9 and gave up 35.4 points per game. The 389 points they allowed were the sixth most in Class 3A. In 2015, they went 3-8 and gave up 37.t points an outing. The year before, even though they finished 5-7, they allowed over five touchdowns a game at 32.4 points.
Fort Campbell opened its season last week against Mayfield. That’s always tough, but the Cardinals won 56-0, a sign that the defense is still a work in progress,
Now the Falcon defense faces a similar task when it entertains the Russellville Panthers at Fryar Field on the army base near Clarksville. Myers’ backs bulldozed and sped their way to 359 yards on the ground in a 41-0 rout of visiting Trigg County in last Friday’s season opener.
Six backs averaged five or more yards per carry to show the team’s depth. Johnny Drumgole roared to 128 yards in just 5 carries for more than 40 yards per carry. Quarterback Jaylin McMurry had an impressive 96 yards on 5 tries for over 19 yards per carry. Joining them were Edward Barber with 48 yards on 6 rushes, Dru West 38 on 4, Damon Hales 28 on 3, and M.J. Jones20 on 3.
The passing game wasn’t productive. McMurry completed 3 of 6 passes, but they netted only one yard.
Jones, however, caught a touchdown pass, which gave him two scores on the night. Other rushing touchdowns were by Barber, Drumgole and West. Jacolbie Mason returned an interception 60 yards for a score. West recovered a Falcon fumble.
Milam Watkins kicked 4 of 5 conversions and Hunter McDowell was successful on the one he kicked.
Senior tight end/bandit back Jordan Blick injured a knee in the Trigg game and has been wearing a brace this week. He plans to sit out the Fort Campbell game to let it heal further.
The Panthers, who were state semifinalists last year, are ranked second in the state in Class 1A by Bluegrass Preps Football Preview.
Friday’s game was made special by being the first Linton-Wren Kickoff Classic in honor of the late assistant coaches Buddy Linton and Howard Wren. Their wives, Paula Linton and Janice Wren, were recognized on the field before the game along with several family members.
At halftime the 1966 team, whose only loss was in the state championship game, was honored and several former players, cheerleaders and homecoming queen Brenda Sisk Senseney were present.
The Fort Campbell game will be carried live on WRUS AM and online at www.network1sports.com/station/wrus, John Brett Reynolds and Alex Watkins will call the action.
For Panther fans planning on attending Friday night's game at Ft. Campbell, Athletic Director Calvin Head has posted some of the gate procedures for getting onto post with directions.
ALL school busses and tag vehicles/equipment vehicles come into gate 7 (If
you pass Walmart you have gone too far) All coaches and bus drivers need to have a valid ID for the background check at the gate. All students on the bus are under 18 years old and do not need an ID.
ALL parents can enter into gate 4 or 7 for their visitor passes/background checks. ALL passengers over the age of 18 need to have a valid ID and drivers need ID, CURRENT registration and proof of vehicle insurance.
Head said, “This is not a very fast process and they might want to show up quite a bit earlier to get a pass. Once they have the pass they can go on post or grab a bite to eat off post and get back onto the installation without stopping.”