Ryle had already entered Friday night’s football game against Simon Kenton with a ton of motivation.
What transpired before the game gave them even more.
With defensive coordinator Adam Collinsworth needing to be taken away in an ambulance before kickoff, the Raiders wanted to make sure they were thinking about him.
Mission accomplished as they shutout Simon Kenton in a 37-0 victory.
“We played for him tonight defensively,” Raiders junior Jacob Savage said.
Engler said after the game he hadn’t received an update on Collinsworth.
The Raiders were dominant from the start and left no doubt as the win gave them the Class 6A, District 6 regular season title and a No. 1 seed in the playoffs. They were flying all over the place, evidenced by five forced turnovers in the first half and a safety.
“Our defensive coordinator being taken to the hospital before the game added even more emotion to come out and perform well,” Raiders coach Mike Engler said. “They said at halftime they were not going to let them score and we wanted the shutout for him. These kids are really coming together as a team and they all know their roles.”
Simon Kenton had 28 yards of offense in the first half. The Raiders had 37 points, the 37th coming with 5:10 to play in the second and getting the game to a running clock. The Pioneers finished with 73 total yards.
Dylan Lee and Jacob Savage had two touchdowns each, Lee with a 65-yard touchdown run and a 55-yard interception return for a score.
“I like offense more. I like doing stuff on offense, but the pick-six felt great,” Lee said. “I’ve been waiting for it all game, he was eyeing his receivers down so I knew it was coming.”
Savage added two touchdowns on the ground and also intercepted a pass.
“We’re all really close. It’s my third year here and I haven’t seen a team closer as we are,” Savage said. “We play with a lot of intensity and a lot of confidence that I haven’t seen ever since I’ve been here and it’s been really fun to be a part of.”
Ryle’s dominance in district play was convincing as all get out. They got each of the three wins against Campbell County, Great Crossing and Simon Kenton to running clocks by halftime.
Now they shift their attention to the big picture. They’re battle tested with their schedule and after a regular season finale against Dixie Heights, they’re hopeful for a deep run in the Class 6A playoffs and looking to do what no other northern Kentucky team has done…win a 6A title, the current alignment the way it is since 2007. Simon Kenton and Dixie Heights have been close, reaching the state championship game in 2008 (Simon Kenton) and 2014 (Dixie Heights).
“Our confidence is sky high,” Engler said. “We feel like we’ve got a chance. It all started last year. We started a ton of sophomores last year and now it’s like these kids have gone from that young 17-year-old to an 18-year-old man.”
After a safety got the scoring started for the Raiders, Savage ran one in from three yards out followed by a Nathan Verax pass to Landon Lorms for a 21-yard touchdown and a 16-0 lead. Lee’s long run made it 23-0, his interception return putting it 30-0. Savage finished off the scoring with a six-yard run.
Simon Kenton will get back to the drawing board hoping to finish out the season at .500 as they’ll face Ashland Blazer in the season finale.
“We’ll just keep going,” Pioneers coach Roy Lucas said. “We talk to our kids all the time one day at a time, one game at a time and one week at a time. We’ve had a couple bad ones this year and we’ve been able to pull it back together and compete and fight and keep going. Hopefully we’ll do the same and keep going.”
The Pioneers will then travel to Louisville to take on St. Xavier in the first round of the playoffs.
The Raiders most likely won’t have to leave Union once the postseason begins. Thanks to their rugged schedule, they’re currently the No. 2 team in RPI in 6A. They’ll open up with Pleasure Ridge Park.
Photo slideshow below, provided by Charles Bolton:
RAIDERS 37, PIONEERS 0
RYLE — 23-14-0-0 — 37
SIMON KENTON — 0-0-0-0 — 0
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(R) Safety (8:16)
(R) Savage 3-yard run (6:56) Moses kick
(R) Verax 21-yard pass to Lorms (3:48) Moses kick
(R) Lee 65-yard run (2:46) Moses kick
2nd Quarter
(R) Lee 55-yard interception return (11:23) Moses kick
(R) Savage 6-yard run (5:10) Moses kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Ryle 104 (Verax 9/19, TD, INT, Warner 3/3, Welter 0/1) Simon Kenton 50 (Lee 3/14, 2 INT, Webb 3/8, INT)
Rushing Yards: Ryle 222 (Lee 1-65, Savage 6-62, Verax 9-24, Warner 3-5, Galicia 5-15, Jenkins 1–3, Depue 1–3, Welter 2-8, Donald 1-49), Simon Kenton 23 (Brown 4-5, Turner 4-8, Lee 4-3, Weaver 1-4, Webb 2-3, Gilbert 6-0)
Receiving: Ryle (Savage 4-27, Lorms 3-45, Karwath 1-12, Galicia 3-16, Lee 1-4), Simon Kenton (Harris 2-6, Weaver 1-2, Powell 2-29, Back 1-13)
Turnovers: Ryle 2, Simon Kenton 6
Penalties: Ryle 8-65, Simon Kenton 4-38
Records: Ryle (7-2, 3-0), Simon Kenton (4-5, 1-2)