With less than four minutes remaining in the game Friday, the Russellville Panthers had their collective backs against the rugged rock walls of Rhea Stadium. They had picked up only two yards on three rushing plays on a series that had begun with such promise. It was fourth and goal at the three, the home team trailed, and its offense had not scored a point all night. The outcome of a winnable one was hinging on this one play.
“I had done a terrible job calling plays on that series,” Coach John Myers later told interviewer John Brett Reynolds on WRUS radio. “I called a timeout and told Barrett (quarterback Barrett Croslin) to run a bootleg. If he found a receiver open, he should throw it. If not, he could run.”
Croslin almost went down but regrouped and got the ball to big fullback Desmon Quarles. He bulled his way over would-be Wildcat tacklers and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:37 remaining. The Panthers regained the lead at 19-14 and went on to avenge a season-opening loss at Cadiz last year, beating Trigg County 25-14.
The Panthers had led for much of the game. Trigg did score first on a 21-yard pass from talented junior quarterback Luke McKenzie to Kyle Rivera when the game was less than four minutes old, but the conversion attempt failed. Russellville then took the lead when Croslin intercepted McKenzie’s pass and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown. Corey Wright, who booted some impressive punts during the game, kicked the extra point, which gave the Panthers a 7-6 lead until early in the fourth quarter.
Trigg had a chance to take the lead on the final play of the half, but missed a field goal attempt. Croslin only had four yards passing on 1 of 10 accuracy and veteran running back Zach Hines had struggled to get past the line of scrimmage, but still the home team led at the intermission.
“We have some experienced backs, but we had three starters on the offensive line—Wright, Jacob Proctor and Jordan Taylor—who had almost no varsity experience,” Myers said. “I felt like I called an awful offensive game the first three quarters, too, but our defense did the job all night.”
The Panthers put together a drive late in the third quarter, but Croslin threw his third interception. Proctor made a clutch tackle on that one, but the Wildcats turned the possession into a score as the fourth quarter began. Skylar Pool ran for 35 yards, and McKenzie teamed with Chris Acree for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 10:34 remaining. A two-point conversion was good, and the visitors led 14-7.
The Cats had little time to rejoice. Hines took the ensuing kickoff back 87 yards to paydirt just 14 seconds later. The conversion kick was blocked, so Trigg County still led 14-13.
Russellville’s defense held on Trigg’s next possession, and the Wildcats were forced to punt. The snap was fumbled, and Panther DeQuan Beard recovered for the Panthers at the TCHS 18. Demarcus Hampton—the target of a Myers challenge to be more effective during halftime—sandwiched runs of 18 and 13 yards around short yardage on a Quarles run. That put the ball on the five, leading up to the go-ahead pass.
Trigg started moving the ball again, but a third Panther interception of a McKenzie pass proved privotal. Sophomore Coco Darden picked off the pass and returned it 40 yards to the Trigg six. After Quarles ran for two yards, Hines scored his second touchdown on a three-yard run with 1:56 left. A bad snap prevented more points on the conversion, but the Panthers had an 11-point lead with less than two minutes remaining.
Once again, the Wildcats threatened. Beard deflected a pass in the end zone, and Jacory Bard pressured McKenzie on a fourth down play that found D.J. Hoosier coming up with the ball. The win was sealed.
“We played team football and beat one heck of a football team,” Myers said. “Our defense was stingy, our special teams played special and our offense scored enough points to win.”
Russellville finished with 169 yards total offense, 138 of them on the ground. Quarles had 49 yards on 12 carries, Hampton 41 on six rushes and Croslin 30 on four tries. McKenzie was 13 of 33 passing for Trigg for 148 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but he was intercepted three times, two of them by Croslin. Jayven Jones rushed 17 yards for 75 yards for the Wildcats, who had 285 yards total offense.
The Panthers go west to the state line next week, playing powerful Fort Campbell on the military basis.