Parsley’s career night lifts Raiders into playoffs
Published 11:45 pm Friday, November 1, 2024
By MICHEAL COMPTON / micheal.compton@bgdailynews.com
The Warren East football team made its case for postseason play with a resounding 50-27 win over Franklin-Simpson on Friday at Warren East High School.
Warren East (6-4) snapped a three-game skid, as quarterback Dane Parsley rushed for six touchdowns – breaking the school record for career touchdowns in the process – allowing the Raiders to grab a win on senior night and secure a spot in the Class 4A playoffs. Warren East entered the night in a three-way tie with Logan County and Hopkinsville for the final two spots in Class 4A, District 2. With Friday’s win, Warren East earned the No. 3 seed – winning the tiebreaker with the highest RPI among the three teams.
“It was the same thing we talked about this week, control the controllable,” Warren East coach Tanner Hall said. “We don’t know what the computer is going to do. Who knows? We control the fact that we don’t beat Franklin here a lot, so let’s go out there and do it tonight.
“ … I am tickled to death that a bunch of our seniors made huge plays on senior night, almost every one of them.”
Both teams started fast, with four touchdowns total scored in the first quarter – two touchdowns from each school.
Parsley’s huge night started with a 9-yard touchdown run with 9:30 left in the first quarter. Franklin-Simpson (5-5) answered 77 seconds later with Brady Delk finding Colin Anderson wide open for a 26-yard strike.
Special teams set up Warren East’s next score, with Jacob Miller fielding a punt off the bounce at the Franklin 47 and racing down to the 1. That set up Parsley’s second score of the night, giving the Raiders a 14-7 lead.
The Wildcats answered again with an eight-play drive, capped by an Ayden Jones touchdown run, to make the score 14-14 late in the first quarter.
Warren East got a little distance in the second quarter – with short TD runs by Parsley and Jackson McCool – to extend the advantage to 29-14 at halftime.
Parsley struck again early in the third, turning a fourth-and-1 into a 64-yard sprint to the end zone that stretched the Warren East lead to 22 points.
An Anderson touchdown run late in the third quarter made the score 36-20, but Parsley struck again early in the fourth with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it a three-score game again with 9:50 remaining.
Delk connected with Carson Groves for a 49-yard touchdown pass 11 seconds later, but Warren East was able to put the game away with one more drive down the field. The Raiders marched 63 yards on eight plays, with Parsley’s 11-yard TD run putting the senior QB in the record book as the program’s all-time leading scorer.
“We’ve had a rough last three weeks,” Parsley said. “Just coming in here, playing our last home game, it really meant a lot – especially breaking that record. We will just come out and fight next week.”
Warren East finished with 415 yards of offense, 235 on the ground. The Raiders were especially effective in the second half, able to hold a big lead after giving up 17- and 19-point leads during the three-game losing streak.
“Live and learn,” Hall said. “Learn from my mistakes a little bit. Last week and going back to Paducah and Allen (County-Scottsville), we have been missing two of our starting offensive linemen (Brett Campbell and Jaron Mank). They were back tonight on senior night and you could see that we were able to run the ball a little more.”
Parsley threw for 158 yards and added 147 yards rushing. Hall said his senior quarterback could have had an even bigger night.
“Early on the game we called one on the goal line for him to get another one and he checks out of it and gives it to Jackson,” Hall said. “That speaks to Dane’s character.”
Anderson paced the Franklin-Simpson offense with 129 yards rushing.
“(Parsley) is a great athlete,” Franklin-Simpson coach Max Chaney said. “He’s a good kid and a great athlete. He played very well tonight. We had some people in position to make plays and didn’t make plays. That’s something we’ve got to go back to Sunday film, look at and try to correct. It’s a new season starting next week.”
Both teams open the playoffs on the road next week. Warren East will play at John Hardin in the Class 4A playoffs. Franklin-Simpson will play at Hancock County in the Class 3A playoffs.
FSHS 14 0 6 7 – 27
WEHS 14 15 7 14 – 50
First quarter
WE – Dane Parsley 9 run (Parsley kick), 9:30
FS – Colin Anderson 26 pass from Brady Delk (Brody McAlister kick), 8:13
WE – Parsley 1 run (Parsley kick), 3:04
FS – Ayden Jones 3 run (McAlister kick), 0:29.7
Second quarter
WE – Parsley 4 run (Atlas Pinson pass from Parsley), 10:33
WE – Jackson McCool 3 run (Parsley kick), 4:48
Third quarter
WE – Parsley 64 run (Parsley kick), 8:57
FS – Anderson 5 run (kick failed), 2:35
Fourth quarter
WE – Parsley 2 run (Parsley kick), 9:50
FS – Cason Groves 49 pass from Delk (McAlister kick), 9:39
WE – Parsley 11 run (Parsley kick), 6:22
About Micheal Compton
I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.
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