The only thing better than opponents' turnovers is taking advantage of them. The Russellville Panthers did that and more Friday on the way to a 34-14 win at Butler County, sealing the Class 3A Region I, District 2 football championship.
The first three times the Bears had the ball, they coughed it up on fumbles. The fourth time they had possession, they were trailing RHS 21-0 midway through the second quarter.
Although the home team was able to cut the margin to 21-14 early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers scored two late touchdowns to put the win and the championship away.
Butler County was moving the ball consistently on the game's opening drive when Panther Davonta Bryant caused a fumble that teammate Dudley Bouldin recovered on his own 31.
Five plays later, Russellville put the game's first points on the board on a 56-yard pass play from D.J. Quarles to Damien Elam with 5:51 remaining in the first quarter. The kick failed, keeping the score 6-0.
The Bears were marching again when Bouldin caused another fumble. RHS was ruled to have recovered the ball, which led to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the home team. The Panther offense took over on Butler's 39 yeard line. A 15-yard run by Elam led to Quarles' second touchdown pass, this one for 10 yards to Bryan Harris. Kevin Temple caught Quarles' 2-point pass to make it 14-0 with 15 seconds left in the opening stanza.
The third fumble was recovered by Victor Hampton at the BCHS 43. Harris almost caught what would have been Quarles' third TD pass, but he was stopped at the 1 yard line. That pass came after a double reverse that put Quarles in passing position. Bryant scored the rushing touchdown, and Browning Smith's conversion kick made it 21-0 with 5:06 remaining in the half.
That was the score at half's end. Bryant was 4 of 6 passing for 117 yards in those first 24 minutes.
Butler County took advantage of a semi-turnover to start the second half when Jacob Oliver recovered an onside kick at the Panther 46
Quarterback Cole Tynes completed two passes to receiver Eli Embry, the second for a 5-yard touchdown. Layton Bush stopped the Bears' Jack Daugherty on the conversion run, making it 21-6 with less than three minutes expired in the second half.
Butler tried another onside kick, but it didn't work this time. Yet Russellville turned it over on first down when Josh Knight picked off a Quarles pass.
The Bears reached the Panther 22, but Hampton recorded his second gain for the team by intercepting Tynes' pass.
This time RHS didn't take advantage of the turnover. In fact, the third straight turnover by the two teams was converted into eight points by the Bears. They blocked Bush's punt, and Embry returned the ball 54 yards for a touchdown. He also ran the conversion, cutting the lead to 21-14 with 11:04 left in the game.
The third consecutive onside kick by the Bears was covered by the Panthers near midfield. On a third and long, Quarles ran for a 29-yard touchdown. Smith's kick gave Russellville breathing room at 28-14 with 6:43 left in the game.
Coach John Myers' team sealed the win and the title when Elam ran for a 39-yard score with just 69 seconds remaining. The kick failed but the 34-14 lead was much more than enough.
Russellville is a Class A size school. The Panthers have won all 12 regular season games against the teams in their district since opting to play up two classes three seasons ago.
The Panthers (5-4) will entertain Logan County in the Clash of the Cats Friday at Rhea Stadium. The Cougars (4-5) played well offensively Friday but lost 48-30 to visiting Franklin-Simpson for second place in their Class 4A district. The Cougars are in third place.
Both teams will enter the playoffs on Nov. 6 with Logan County on the road and the Panthers at home.