On a night when Russellville High School honored the late coach Ken Barrett, the Panthers got their first win of the season against the school Barrett coached at one time — Trigg County.
Behind a strong first-half passing game and an even better run game in the second half, the Panthers defeated the Wildcats 33-17 at Rhea Stadium on Friday night to earn their first win of the 2024 season.
Before the game, former players of Barrett were honored at midfield along with his family. Barrett coached at Trigg County from 1967-1970 and guided the Wildcats to their first district championship and postseason berth in 1967.
He came to Russellville in 1976 and coached the Panthers to 162 wins and three state championships. In his time at Russellville, his teams were 12-9 against Trigg County.
While most people in western Kentucky expected to play in rainy conditions because of the remnants of tropical storm Francene, Friday’s game went off with no rain and very little wind. In other words, a typical fall night.
Trigg County struck first when Joshuan Bridges capped a 12-play, 91-yard drive with a 3-yard run inside the final minute of the first quarter. The drive was set up by 80 yards rushing by Davaree Gude who was coming off a school-record 342-yard performance last week against Fort Campbell.
However, Gude would not see the second half as he suffered an injury in the second quarter. His night was finished with 75 yards on 11 carries.
Russellville got on the board when Hunter Hallman found a wide-open JaCoveon Temple-Dickerson for a 46-yard pitch and catch with 9:51 to go in the first half.
Trigg County would fumble on its next play and Russellville took advantage as they drove into the red zone and got a 26-yard field goal from Alex Arnold with 5:49 to go to take a 10 -7 lead.
Trigg County would answer when freshman quarterback Caden Scott hit Brody Renfroe on a short slant route and Renfroe raced 59 yards to the end zone to give the Wildcats a 14 -10 lead with 1:40 to go before halftime.
But the lead was short-lived as a short Wildcat kick set the Panthers up near midfield and Hunter Hallman found Temple-Dickerson on the first play from scrimmage for a 52-yard touchdown and a 17 -14 lead that would stand at halftime.
Trigg County would open the second half with a 24-yard field goal by Renfroe to tie the game at 17. However, they wouldn’t get another first down the rest of the way.
Octavius McKeague gave the Panthers a 24 -17 lead on a 3-yard run with 1:08 left in the third quarter.
The Panthers then put the football in the hands of sophomore running back Jamarion Gardner who had 1 yard in the first half but ran 9 times for 103 yards in the second half. His 5-yard run with 9:57 left gave the Panthers a 30 -17 lead.
Trigg County which had 158 yards of offense and eight first downs in the first half managed only 57 yards and one first down in the second.
Russellville, meanwhile, finished with 364 yards of offense. While all 216 of their passing yards came in the first half, they were able to run the football for 140 yards in the second 24 minutes.
Hallman finished 9-of-14 passing for 216 yards for Russellville. Temple-Dickerson, who came into the game with just five catches for 42 yards and three games, finished with four receptions for 130 yards.
Trigg County was looking for its first three-game winning streak over the Panthers since 2011 but instead fell to 9 -26 all-time at Rhea Stadium. In the series that dates back to 1938, Russellville holds a 43 -22 advantage with one tie.
With a record of 1 -3, the Panthers will host Franklin Simpson next week while Trigg County drops to 2 -2.
The Wildcats will open up district play Friday night at home against Webster County. The Trojans will play Ballard Memorial on Saturday night in a game moved because of perceived weather. With Class 3A District 1, a six-team district, more than one district win will be needed to secure a post-season birth.
For Trigg County, their next five games will be inside the district.
