Red Devils blow away Wildcats, set sights on district title game

OWINGSVILLE  — The Russell Red Devils got one more chance to tune things up one final time ahead of their big test next Friday.

And it appears the Red Devils have things running smoothly, as they blanked the Bath County Wildcats 42-0 on Friday night.

"Overall, I was pleased with their effort. I was good again get some jayvee guys and even some two's in there to get some reps," said Russell coach T.J. Maynard.

The Red Devils scored quickly thanks to some big plays in the passing game thanks to quarterback Jayden Frasure, who finished 7-of-8 for 189 yards. While none of Frasure's completions turned into touchdowns, all of them went for 14 or more yards. Even backup Hunter Williams completed a pass for 20 yards to Griffin Fisher.

The running game was paced by sophomore running back Kaiden Benge, who had Russell's first 3 scores of the game. His first came on a 1-yard run at the 7:57 mark of the first.

Later in the first following a defensive stop, the Red Devils went right back to work with a quick score.

Frasure and Jayden Pennington hooked up twice on back-to-back plays during the drive, first for a 35 yards and then for 15 to put the Red Devils at the Wildcat 2.

On the next play, Benge plowed in for his second score to expand Russell's lead to 14-0 after Sam Totten's extra point.

In the second, Frasure and Kanenan Jacobs connected for a 36-yard gain to extend Russell's drive and set them up at the Wildcat 4.

Benge scored his third and final touchdown on the next play with a cutback to make it a 21-point lead.

The Wildcats decided to dip into their bag of tricks on their ensuing possession with a fake punt pass by their lineman-turned-punter Edward Tapp for a 25-yard gain to Parker Crouch to put the Wildcats at the Russell 36.

But Bath County's drive came to a halt when a Crouch had the ball knocked loose on a carry and Zach Brown was there to come up with the football for the turnover.

Russell capitalized on the stop quickly, as Frasure hit Anderson Haggard on the ensuing play for a 53-yard gain. Two plays later, Jordan Rowe scored from 11 yards out.

Russell's special teams got into the scoring act to finish off the scoring in the first half.

Tapp let off a punt that was fielded at the 50 by Jayden Pennington, and the senior speedster followed his wall of blockers along the sideline for a punt return to close out the scoring in the first half.

In the second half, the Wildcats pieced together a drive that reached as far as the Russell 19. But the Wildcats were turned away on a fourth down stop.

The backups turned the stop into a score of their own, as Logan Jones scored on a 4 yard run to cap off the scoring. Jones also helped set his score up when he ripped off a 34-yard gain early in the drive.

The Wildcats were led offensively by Crouch, who finished the night with 21 carries for 97 yards. Quarterback Parker Cox added 63 rushing yards on 11 carries and threw for 45 yards. Crouch led the team in receiving with 3 catches for 27 yards.

Russell now turns its attention to their home finale where they will host East Carter in a battle for the district championship.

"Next week's game is what we've been preparing for all year, I told the kids we've had 7-8 games to prepare them for and get things right," said Maynard. "Coach Champlin does a great job and those guys are really good."

Russell 14 21 0 7 = 42

Lewis Co 0 0 0 0 = 0

First Quarter

Rus — Kaiden Benge 1 run (Gavin Skaggs kick), 7:57.

Rus — Kaiden Benge 2 run (Sam Totten kick), 0:28.

Second Quarter

Rus — Kaiden Benge 1 run (Gavin Skaggs kick), 8:24

Rus — Jordan Rowe 11 run (Sam Totten kick), 3:20.

Rus — Jayden Pennington 50 punt return (Gavin Skaggs kick), 0:06.

Fourth Quarter

Rus — Logan Jones 4 run (Sam Totten kick), 6:02.

———

Rus BC

First downs 10 4

Rushes-yards 18-127 39-168

Passing yards 209 84

Total yards 326 252

Cmp-Att-Int 8-9-1 7-14-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1

Penalties-yards 0-0 4-28

———

Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Russell: Jordan Rowe 2-14 TD, Logan Jones 3-49 TD, Jayden Frasure 8-minus 9, Logan Jones 3-49 TD, Kaiden Benge 8-24 3-TD, Lane Osborne 3-22, Benjamin Brinkman 2-18; Bath County: Branson Bartlett 1-4, Parker Cox 11-63, Johnny Manley 5-3, Parker Crouch 21-97, Braxton McPherson 1-1.

PASSING – Russell: Jayden Frasure 7-8-1 189, Hunter Williams 1-1-0 20; Bath County: Parker Cox 5-12-0 45, Maddox Lucas 1-1-0 14, Edward Tapp 1-1-0 25.

RECEIVING – Russell: Caden Mitchell 1-14, Griffin Fisher 1-20, Kanenan Jacobs 1-38, Anderson Haggard 1-53, Cayden Pennington 1-18, Jayden Pennington 2-50, Kaiden Benge 1-16; Bath County: Sean Wagner 2-19, Branson Barlett 1-12, Johnny Manley 1-12, Parker Crouch 3-27.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.