What was a slow start turned into a cannon frenzy for the Ryle Raiders Friday night.
Ryle handed Ballard a 41-20 defeat in the second round of the KHSAA Class 6A playoffs.
After a nerve-wracking start in which the Raiders found themselves down 14-7, the Raiders responded with 34 straight points to set up a showdown in Lexington next week with Frederick Douglass for a regional title.
After an opening drive fumble, Nathan Verax looked to continue the high scoring streak the Raiders have been on, scoring over 37 points per game during their six game win streak to this point.
The early mishap did not halt the offense a bit, Jacob Savage ripping off a 53-yard TD run and catching a pass for a 75-yard for a score to make it 14-14.
Verax then scored twice his legs, the latter making it 28-14 before halftime.
“Any playoff game against a team that is well coached like Ballard, easing into the game after the early adversity really woke me up and allowed me to play my game,” Verax said.
Dameyn Anness punched in the lone score in the third quarter to make it 34-14. Verax’s touchdown toss to Dylan Lee with a little more than four minutes to go put an exclamation point on this one.
“To win it, there are going to be times when you get down and our guys handled it well and they never wavered,” Raiders coach Mike Engler said. “Even when they went up 14-7, we just knew we would go do our thing.”
Raiders 41, Bruins 20
Ryle — 14-14-6-7 — 41
Ballard — 14-0-0-6 — 20
Scoring plays
1st quarter
(B) Derryon Mitchell recovers the fumble and returns it for a touchdown (9:20) PAT by Abbot is good
( R ) Jacob Savage scores on a 53 yard run (8:19) PAT by Moses is good
(B) Larry Irvin finds Malachi Allen for a touchdown (6:20) PAT by Abbot is good
( R ) Jacob Savage takes a 75 yard reception in for the score (1:44) PAT by Moses is good
2nd quarter
( R ) Nathan Verax takes in the designed run for the score (8:43) PAT by Moses is good
( R ) Nathan Verax takes in another designed run for the score (4:11) PAT by Moses is good
3rd quarter
( R ) Dameyn Anness finds the endzone with a rushing score (5:51) PAT by Moses is no good
4th quarter
( R ) Verax finds Dylan Lee for a touchdown (4:57) PAT by Moses is good
(B) Bruins punch in a rushing score (2:16) Two point conversion is no good