For Conner, Friday was more than a win. It was about smiles and steps forward.
On homecoming night, after a massive parade, the Cougars took Tom Stellman Field at Fred Nevel Stadium in Hebron and earned their second victory of the season. More importantly, it was their first district win in a Class 5A, District 5 matchup against Boone County, 53-14.
The season hasn’t been easy. Longtime head coach Dave Trosper passed away unexpectedly during the summer, and Conner stumbled to a 1-5 start, including a 49-14 district-opening loss to Cooper. But on Friday the Cougars took the steps, not necessarily big ones, but the necessary ones, and it paid off.
“All the players made it special for the community and for everyone else,” Conner head coach Noel Rash said. “I like the way they came together and the way they worked hard. We had to clean up some stuff and we’ve still got a lot more to clean up, but we took some really good steps.”
Led by a senior core that refused to hang its heads, Conner leaned on its experience and chemistry. That was especially true with quarterback Grayson Montgomery and receiver Aydin Depenbrock.
Montgomery completed 11 passes for 149 yards and added a rushing touchdown. Depenbrock caught six passes for 104 yards, scored twice, and hauled in a two-point conversion from his quarterback.
“That’s five years of us playing together,” Montgomery said. “We know what we want to do before we even snap the ball, and on the sideline we’ll talk about what we’re going to do and then go out and do it. It’s the chemistry.”
Along with Montgomery and Depenbrock, the rest of the team took advantage of early opportunities. Boone County fumbled the opening kickoff and then lost the ball again on its next possession, setting the tone for the night.
In the first eight minutes, Conner scored three touchdowns. Jasiah Lampkin started the run on the Cougars’ opening drive and finished with two rushing scores.
“Fumbling the kickoff return obviously stings, and then we ran two offensive plays and fumbled on the third,” Boone County head coach Dan Court said. “By the time the offense came back onto the field it was 21-0. We hadn’t even had an offensive drive yet, and when we did we stalled out. Instead of it being 7-0, it’s 21-0, and it was tough to come out of that hole.”
By halftime Conner led 33-0, and the running clock started after the Cougars stretched their lead to 46-0 with eight minutes left in the third quarter.
Boone County broke through with two touchdown passes from Michael Chiasson, one to Amare Newberry late in the third and another to Mason Coughenour in the fourth.
Conner finished with a balanced attack, recording 149 passing yards and 191 rushing yards. Boone County managed 151 through the air but was limited to 76 on the ground.
Boone County (3-3, 0-1) will try again for its first district win Thursday at home against Scott. Conner (2-5, 1-1) will look to add another district victory the same evening at Dixie Heights. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
More photos below, provided by Jenny Quinn:
COUGARS 53, REBELS 14
CONNER — 21-13-13-7 — 53
BOONE COUNTY — 0-0-6-8 — 14
Scoring Plays
1st Quarter
(C) Lampkin 9-yard run (9:06) Montgomery pass incomplete
(C) Montgomery 1-yard run (6:13) Montgomery pass to Depenbrock
(C) Montgomery 27-yard pass to Depenbrock (4:15) Ginn kick
2nd Quarter
(C) Lampkin 9-yard run (1:51) Ginn kick blocked
(C) Montgomery 14-yard pass to Depenbrock (0:01) Montgomery pass incomplete
3rd Quarter
(C) Hernandez 69-yard run (10:01) Ginn kick
(C) Krallman 23-yard interception return (8:22) Ginn kick blocked
(BC) Chiasson 24-yard pass to Newberry (2:16) Johnson run no good
4th Quarter
(BC) Chiasson 31-yard pass to Coughenour (11:13) Johnson run
(C) Campbell 10-yard run (4:14) Ginn kick
Game Stats
Passing Yards: Conner 149 (Montgomery 11/20), Boone County 151 (Chiasson 8/13)
Rushing Yards: Conner 191 (Hernandez 5-81, Buckler 3-49, Campbell 2-30, Lampkin 4-20, Dozier 2-7, Montgomery 2-4), Boone County 76 (Johnson 18-67, Butsch 2-14, Hodges 1-5, Miller-Hatcher 1-1, Chiasson 2-(minus)3, Turner 1-(minus)8)
Receiving: Conner (Depenbrock 6-104, Dozier 1-24, Keen 1-9, Lampkin 1-7, Koller 2-5), Boone County (Coughenour 3-99, Newberry 3-48, Butsch 1-4, Johnson 1-0)
Turnovers: Conner 1, Boone County 3
Penalties: Conner 12-95, Boone County 5-44
Records: Conner 2-5, Boone County 3-3