RUSSELL – Fleming County came in with a gameplan and looked to have executed it the way they wanted the first 24 minutes of the game.
Problem is there was another 24.
Russell took it to the Panthers in the second half, scoring 41 unanswered points on their way to a 55-7 victory. The Red Devils turned the Panthers over six times on the night and racked up the rushing yards, totaling 425 in the lopsided victory.
“I don’t know if we beat anybody on our schedule when we turn the ball over six times, let alone the best team we’ve played so far this year,” Panthers coach Bill Spencer said. “Russell is a quality football team and we have to take advantage of every offensive possession we have.”
Early on, the Panthers controlled the clock, got chunks of yards in the passing game, but the turnover bug and inability to finish drives kept them out of the end zone.
Trailing 7-0, they were finally able to punch one in at the 5:12 mark in the second quarter to even up the score at 7-all when Jonathan Maher hit Logan Pinkley on a screen pass for a five-yard touchdown.
The Red Devils responded quickly, needing just three plays to go up 14-7 after a Charlie Jachimczuk 17 yard touchdown run.
The two would go into the half from there, the Red Devils holding a 14-7, but the Panthers outgaining them 161-138 at the break.
“What had come back to haunt us was we were in the red zone twice in the first half and didn’t score. It could have easily been 14-14 or we could have been up 21-14 if we finished some drives,” Spencer said.
As Russell racked up the rushing yards in the second half, Fleming County started to rack up the turnovers.
The Red Devils would open up with a Jachimczuk 48-yard touchdown run to take a two-score lead at 21-7. Two plays later, Maher threw his third interception of the game.
“Second half they did a good job of mixing their coverage up, dropping to some zone sometimes, bringing the outside guy some, dropping him back some. Johnny really tried to force some things a little bit much and I think once the score started piling up he felt a little pressure he had to make something happen,” Spencer said.
Malakai Anderson then showed his running ability, breaking off runs of 16 and 92 yards to make it 34-7 near the end of the third. Russell compiled 255 rushing yards in the dominating third quarter.
The Red Devils would add three more scores in the fourth, a Nathan Conley 28-yard run, Drake Wells 22-yard run and a Drew Renzi five-yard rush to put the nightcap on the evening.
“Defensively we made a couple little changes, but the big thing was playing with more of a sense of urgency. We kind of felt like we were going through the motions in the first half and playing a little soft in the secondary so we just kind of challenged guys in the second half to play harder and with more sense of urgency,” Red Devils coach T.J. Maynard said.
The Red Devils now sit at 5-1 as they enter district play on October 11 when they play at Greenup County. Anderson led the rushing attack with 141 yards on seven carries, Nathan Conley with 125 yards on 16 carries. Jachimczuk threw for 54 yards and ran for 83 more.
The loss drops Fleming County to 3-2 on the year with the Class 3A, 6th District slate on tap when they open up with Powell County next Friday.
“Second half we came out and just didn’t execute. We had a couple drives where we moved it, but then every time we would get some momentum going and then have a turnover. Defensively I praise my kids every week for their effort and how hard they play. It kind of felt like we reverted back,” Spencer said. “The turnovers were piling up on us and instead of bucking up and trying to fight it, it kind of snowballed and got away from us.”
Maher attempted 40 passes on the night, completing 21 of them for 195 yards with the touchdown and five interceptions.
His main receivers on the night were Logan Pinkley and Kaleb Flanery, Pinkley with seven catches for 63 yards and the score, Flanery with nine receptions for 81 yards. The Panthers were held in check on the ground, gathering just 42 yards on 15 carries.
RED DEVILS 55, PANTHERS 7
FLEMING COUNTY—0-7-0-0—7
RUSSELL—7-7-20-21—55
Scoring:
1st Quarter:
(RU) Jachimczuk 21-yard pass to Conley (Floyd kick) 2:41
2nd Quarter:
(FC) Maher 5-yard pass to Pinkley (Sanchez kick) 5:12
(RU) Jachimczuk 17-yard run (Floyd kick) 3:46)
3rd Quarter:
(RU) Jachimczuk 48-yard run (Floyd kick) 11:15
(RU) Anderson 16-yard run (Floyd kick) 3:08
(RU) Anderson 92-yard run (kick blocked) 1:02
4th Quarter:
(RU) Conley 28-yard run (Floyd kick) 9:03
(RU) Wells 22-yard run (Floyd kick) 7:20
(RU) Renzi 5-yard run (Floyd kick) 2:50
Game Stats:
Passing Yards: Fleming County 189 (Maher 21/40-1-5), Russell 54 (Jachimczuk 5/7-1-1)
Rushing Yards: Fleming County 42 (Maher 9-25, Jones 2-7, Denton 2-6, Weaver 1-2, Flanery 1-1, Applegate 1-1), Russell 425 (Anderson 7-141, Conley 16-125, Jachimczuk 9-83, Sharp 3-29, Wells 1-22, Renzi 2-15, Oborne 1-10)
Receiving: Fleming County: (Flanery 9-81, Pinkley 7-63, Gulley 3-21, Jackson 2-15, McKibben 2-15), Russell: (Jenkins 1-29, Conley 2-16, Oborne 1-9, Anderson 1-0)
Turnovers: Fleming County 6, Russell 1
Penalties: Fleming County 1-5, Russell 2-10
Records: Fleming County 3-2, Russell 5-1