Russellville holds on for first playoff win since 2021

Published 11:50 pm Friday, November 8, 2024

by Micheal Compton

By MICHEAL COMPTON / micheal.compton@bgdailynews.com

RUSSELLVILLE — The Russellville football team kept answering the call, using a late surge to slip past Bethlehem 28-27 in the opening round of the Class A state playoffs on Friday at Rhea Stadium.

In a game where the momentum kept bouncing back and forth, it was Russellville (6-5) which found a way to make plays late and hold on for the program’s first postseason win since 2021.

“We definitely battled through some adversity,” Russellville coach Mikie Benton said. “We had a great hot start and I think we thought they would lay down, but we’ve been preaching to them all week that ‘as bad you want to win this, I am sure they want to do the same.’ We definitely witnessed that.

“We had some moments where we really got down on ourselves and allowed them to come back, but we bowed up when it really mattered and were able to pull off a great win.”

Russellville came out hot with two touchdowns in the first six minutes to build a quick 14-0 lead.

A Bethlehem fumble set the Panthers up at the Eagles’ 26-yard line on the first offensive drive. Six plays later, Jamarion Gardner scored on a 2-yard run to cap the drive. On the next series, it was the first of two big scores from Labryan Nourse, who crashed through the line untouched for a 78-yard touchdown run.

A Russellville interception gave Bethlehem (5-6) life, with the Eagles taking advantage of a short field and scoring on a touchdown run by Jalen Del Valle to make the score 14-7 late in the first quarter.

A bad snap on a punt by the Panthers late in the second gave the Eagles another short field to work with. Bethlehem marched 28 yards, with Del Valle’s second touchdown run and subsequent two-point conversion giving the Eagles a 15-14 lead with 1:10 left in the half.

On the ensuing kickoff, Russellville’s Justin Bigbee took the short kick and returned it 58 yards for a score that would allow the Panthers to take a 20-15 advantage into the half.

Bethlehem took the lead again late in the third with another special teams play — fake punt stopped one yard short — giving the Eagles the ball at the Russellville 27. Five plays later, Del Valle scored again to give Bethlehem a 21-20 lead with 31 seconds left in the third.

After getting stopped on downs near midfield on its next possession Russellville appeared to be in danger of doing it again on the next drive, facing a fourth-and-14 at its own 46. The Panthers converted in a big way, with quarterback Hunter Hallman escaping the rush and connecting with Nourse at the Bethlehem 25, with Nourse taking off and racing to the end zone untouched for the go-ahead score.

The two-point conversion was good and the Panthers led 28-21 with 3:48 left.

“I just had faith in my quarterback that he could throw the ball and put it in my hands,” Nourse said. “I just took it to the crib so we could win.”

Bethlehem was able to answer with a 15-play, 73-yard drive that included two third-down conversions and two fourth-down conversions. The final play was a short pass from Jack Bradley to Nicholas Osborne, who ran to the right side, reversed his field all the way back to the left sideline before taking off for a 21-yard score with 35 seconds left.

The Eagles opted to go for two — a direct snap to Osborne with Tiron Garvin, who was covering Osborne on the touchdown, able to prevent Osborne from running it in by knocking him out of bounds at the 1.

“He had a moment where he was upset,” Benton said. “He thought the wide receiver pushed off on him, which he probably did but we tell him all the time you have to play until you hear a whistle. He gave it up. He was a little upset, so I had to get him to lock back in. We flipped him to the other side of the field, they came right at him and he made an absolutely great tackle to force (Osbourne) out of bounds and get the win.”

Bethlehem tried an onside kick after the unsuccessful two-point attempt, but Russellville was able to recover and run out the clock.

Bethlehem outgained Russellville 238-200 in total yards, with the Panthers defense forcing four turnovers.

“Our offense tonight definitely didn’t help our defense,” Benton said. “We had some moments where early on we were locked in and then it kind of fell by the wayside a little bit. We kind of put our defense in some pretty bad spots. I don’t care how good your defense is — to put them in (position) with short fields and tell them to stop (Bethlehem) consistently — which they did a great job of, sometimes they were able to pull it off. Kudos to them to be able to make plays. I thought they played great.”

Osborne rushed for 111 yards on seven carries to give him 165 yards of total offense. Gardner totaled 60 yards on the ground on 18 carries.

Russellville will host Campbellsville, ranked No. 4 in Class A in the final statewide media poll, in the second round next week.

“We know the type of talent Campbellsville is going to bring down here, but hey we at least get them at home,” Benton said. “We are going to go in and practice, we are going to work hard and however it shakes out on Friday is how it is, but I assure you we are going to show up and play hard.”

BHS 7 8 6 6 — 27

RHS 14 6 0 8 — 28

First quarter

RHS — Jamarion Gardner 2 run (Madden Bloodworth kick), 8:12

RHS — Labryan Nourse 78 run (Bloodworth kick), 6:00

BHS — Jalen Del Valle 3 run (Derek McKinney kick), 0:48

Second quarter

BHS — Del Valle 14 run (Garrett Lanham run), 1:10

RHS — Justin Bigbee 58 kick return (kick blocked), 1:01

Third quarter

BHS — Del Valle 6 run (pass failed), 0:31

Fourth quarter

RHS — Nourse 54 pass from Hunter Hallman (Octavious McKeage pass from Hallman), 3:48

BHS — Nicholas Osborne 21 pass from Jack Bradley (run failed), 0:35

About Micheal Compton

I am a sports reporter and movie critic for the Bowling Green Daily News.

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