In front of a great crowd at Fred Nevel Stadium in Hebron, both teams battled in search of their first win of the season.
The defenses had their way through most of the first three quarters. Then in the fourth, the Ryle Raiders (1-1) hit the end zone twice to pull off the 21-7 victory over the Conner Cougars (0-2).
“Even though we felt we should have played better, hats off to Conner. (The Cougars) had a great game plan,” said Mike Engler, Ryle head coach. “They came out and took it to us. That’s what you expect from a county rival. When we faced some adversity, we did it, overcame it and won the football game.”
Both teams had 57 plays. But Ryle put up 318 yards offensively to 144 for the Cougars for averages of between five and six for the Raiders and between two and three for the Cougars. The Raiders also had 17 first downs to nine for the Cougars.
“We got better from last week to this week and that’s what we have to continue to do,” said David Trosper, Conner head coach. “We have three sophomores on the offensive line. We play seven to eight sophomores in a game and you’re going to take your lumps. We improved in some spots. We had a good game plan to do what we needed to do and it caught up with us at the end. We didn’t want to focus on the scoreboard. We wanted to focus on ourselves. We were doing some good things. We just gave up some busts. Getting on the same page with youth is what it’s all about. Our guys are going to fight you until the end. As long as we’re competitive and continue to be resilient, I’m going to be happy.”
Both teams tried to establish the running game behind the offensive lines. Ryle did it much better rushing for 220 yards on 36 carries for an average of just more than six yards per carry. The Raiders held the Cougars to 58 yards on 31 carries for less than two yards.
Ryle senior running back Jayce Harden had 17 carries for 121 yards for an average of just more than seven yards per carry. Junior quarterback Logan Verax had 61 yards rushing on 11 carries for an average of between five and six per carry and one touchdown. Verax also completed 12 of 20 passes for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
Senior standout defensive back and wide receiver Kaden Gardner did his thing on both sides of the ball. Gardner had six catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 39 yards on four carries.
“Every day in practice, Monday through Wednesday, we’re running hills after practice as an offensive line group,” said Drew Dickerson, Ryle senior offensive lineman. “We’re doing the little things after practice, before practice doing bag drills, doing everything. We’re conditioning even during the season. So we were in really good shape. I think that really paid off in the long run.”
Senior quarterback Brennan Kahle gave a great effort for the Cougars completing 16 of 27 passes for 86 yards. Senior wide receiver Kentyn Moore led Conner with four catches for 30 yards. Sophomore running back Elliot Bucher led the Cougars rushing for 53 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown averaging more than five yards per carry including a 28-yard scamper.
The defenses had their way on third and fourth down. Ryle converted 1 of 8 on third down for 13 percent and 1 of 2 on fourth down for 50 percent. Conner converted 2 of 14 on third down for 14 percent and 1 for 5 on fourth down for 20 percent.
Ryle did it with one regular starter in Gardner in the secondary. Starters such as senior defensive backs Lukas Colemire and Abram Cusick were not able to play because of injuries but that allowed Ryle to develop some depth. Junior defensive back Jake Steffen started for the first time for the Raiders in the secondary and sophomore Drake Meadows had his second start.
“We have got to become mentally tough. We made a lot of mistakes that cost us,” Engler said. “But we grew up as a football team. Those are guys that stepped up. We lost some guys on the offensive line. We had some guys step up, which is great for us down the line.”
Conner drove into Ryle territory a couple times in the first half and could not convert on fourth down. The Raiders had a 4th-and-1 at the Conner 39. They tried a sweep. But the Cougars knocked the ball out and Harden recovered the ball at the Conner 43 giving the ball back to the Cougars.
Ryle scored the only points for either team in the first half with 3:47 left in the second quarter. On a second-and-goal from the Conner 18 after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Verax found Gardner for an 18-yard touchdown. Conner blocked the extra-point attempt leaving the score 6-0 Ryle at halftime.
On their first possession of the second half, Ryle tried to throw a deep pass. But Conner junior linebacker Adam Duncan picked off the tipped pass and returned it to the Ryle 43.
After Kahle scrambled for 12 yards, a Ryle facemask penalty moved the ball to the Raider 16. On third down, Kahle found senior wide receiver Terry Phillips for a 10-yard completion setting the Cougars up at the Ryle 2. Bucher punched it in on the next play and sophomore placekicker Andrew Herron made the extra point attempt to give the Cougars a 7-6 lead with 5:27 left in the third quarter.
“We’re playing great defense,” Trosper said. “We played great defense last week. We gave up two big passes. If not, it’s a 14-point game. We did some bad things on some over-the-top passes. (Henry Clay) didn’t score a point in the second half. We’re going to just get better and better. We have a lot of depth and we’re able to transfer some guys and get them some breaks and I think that helps us, too. We just have to stop the dumb mistakes offensively and defensively, keep playing.”
Entering the fourth quarter, Ryle senior defensive lineman Tyler Barth told his teammates to hold the four fingers up signaling the crucial quarter where the Raiders came through. The vocal leader and his teammates also came through putting pressure on the Cougars in the backfield throughout the game making critical stops.
“We like to study film. Our (assistant) coaches did a great job helping us out,” Barth said. “They prepared us well. We came up and stopped them. If you have that leadership, that really makes a great football team. In a county rivalry, the atmosphere is very intense. You just have to push forward through it.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Ryle senior wide receiver Derril Carr had a big special teams play returning a punt for a touchdown. A Raiders block in the back penalty brought the ball back to the Conner 28.
But the Raiders took nearly three minutes off the clock. On a fourth down from the Conner 3, Verax pressed ahead to the Cougar 2 for a 1st-and-goal. Verax ran behind his line to score the touchdown with around six minutes left in the game. Verax then found Gardner for the two-point conversion to give the Raiders a 14-7 lead.
“We put it on our (offensive) lines’ backs,” Verax said. “They’re one of the best in the state in my opinion. We couldn’t have done without all of them, especially Kaden Gardner and all the wide receivers with Jayce Harden and all the running backs who stepped up. It’s nice knowing I don’t have to worry about all the other guys doing their jobs because I know they’re going to do it. It’s also great to know the defense is going to get stops behind us and have our backs as well.”
After a Conner three-and-out, Ryle took over at the Conner 45. The Raiders used four rushing plays to move the ball down to the Conner 19. Then with 3:17 left, Verax connected with Gardner on the back shoulder for the touchdown on the right side of the end zone and junior Josh Line booted the PAT to make the final score.
Ryle plays host to Cooper (1-1) at 7 p.m. on Friday. Conner plays host to Dixie Heights (0-2) at 7 p.m.
Ryle – 0 6 0 15 – 21
Conner – 0 0 7 0 – 7
R – Gardner 18 pass from Verax (kick blocked)
C – Bucher 2 run (Herron kick)
R – Verax 2 run (Gardner pass from Verax)
R – Gardner 19 pass from Verax (Line kick)