Devils overcome sluggish 1st half, get back in win column

FLATWOODS — Some key offensive plays, and a solid rushing performance helped Russell overcome a sluggish first half and help the Red Devils rout the Fleming County Panthers 41-6 in their district opener on Friday night at Henry R. Evans Stadium.

"Execution early on was disappointing," Russell offensive coordinator Lance Evans. "I don't know if the Ashland game kind of led over into this game. But blocking, tackling, catching, throwing, play calling, everything was just out of whack. Thankfully we got in there before half to go up 14-0."

Russell was able to rely on its running game, putting up 237 yards on the ground. Kaiden Benge was the bell cow for Russell, carrying the ball 18 times for 131 yards and four scores. Lane Osborne also chipped in 98 yards and a score on five carries.

The Devils first score would finally grab the lead, but not without overcoming some adversity.

Early in the drive, a penalty backed the Devils up and facing a 3rd-and-17. That's when Williams pulled off the first of his two best passes of the game.

Williams was flushed from the pocket and rolled to his left and lofted a high-arching pass in between a pair of defenders and Jordan Rowe made the over the shoulder catch. The play allowed the Devils to convert a 4th-and-short to continue the drive.

But after fumbling around a handoff exchange and an incompletion, it appeared another promising Devil drive was about to bog down again.

But then Williams let a pass fly down the home side and dropped it into Fisher who made a diving catch at the two.

Next play, Benge shouldered his way in to break the ice on the scoreboard.

Like a dam burst, things began to click for the Devils.

Trying to answer the score, Fleming's drive was snowed under by a tackle for loss by Wyatt Hudson and a sack by Spencer Gross and force the Panthers (2-4) to punt.

Benge would score his second touchdown run of the night as time expired in the first half to give the Red Devils (4-2) a 14-0 lead at the break.

The trend of Benge finding the end zone continued in the third quarter, as the junior back broke free for a 43-yard dash just 63 seconds into the second half. Then Benge scored his final time bouncing to the outside and hurdling over a tackler at the goal line to make it 27-0.

"Benge got downhill. Really, that run after halftime really broke it open," said Evans. "Defensively, (Fleming) couldn't do anything. They got a couple drives in the second half where they moved it. But coach Wills and coach Morris really helped us muddle through early and helped us where we were still ahead."

Fleming broke up the shutout on their following drive when quarterback Jett Martin scrambled in from 11 yards out for the score. Evan Conley's 2-point conversion run attempt was stopped by Gross, leaving the score at 27-6 in favor of Russell.

In the fourth, the Devils continued to roll.

Williams went up top to Shawn Deskins for a 34-yard strike to extend the lead to 34-6.

Then Lane Osborne put the exclamation point on the win, taking a handoff on a sweep right and turned up field and went 82-yards to pay dirt to make the final score.

Russell will be off this week before returning to district play on Oct. 8 when they travel to Vanceburg to face Lewis County.

Fleming Co. 0 0 6 0 = 6

Russell 0 14 13 14 = 41

Second Quarter

Rus — Kaiden Benge 2 run (Sam Totten kick), 7:48.

Rus — Kaiden Benge 1 run (Sam Totten kick), 0:00.

Third Quarter

Rus — Kaiden Benge 43 run (kick no good), 10:57.

Rus — Kaiden Benge 7 run (Sam Totten kick), 6:51.

FC — Jett Martin 11 run (run failed), 0:13.

Fourth Quarter

Rus — Shawn Deskins 34 pass from Hunter Williams (Sam Totten kick), 8:25.

Rus — Lane Osborne 82 run (Sam Totten kick), 4:03.

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FC Rus

First downs 9 17

Rushes-yards 23-42 30-237

Passing yards 69 156

Total yards 111 393

Cmp-Att-Int 12-23-0 12-23-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 6-50 11-103.5

Punts-average 4-23.5 2-31.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Fleming County: Blake Everidge 1-minus 1, Jett Martin 14-29 TD, Paxton Jones7-13, Evan Conley 1-1; Russell: Jordan Rowe 2-5, Hunter Williams 1-1, Peyton Bailey 2-4, Nicholas Marcum 2-minus 2, Kaiden Benge 18-131 4-TD, Lane Osborne 5-98 TD.

PASSING – Fleming County: Jett Martin 12-23-0 69; Russell: Hunter Williams 12-23-0 156 TD.

RECEIVING – Fleming County: Branson Hawkins 4-1, Blake Everidge 2-22, Trevor Plank 2-14, Evan Conley 5-32; Russell: Jordan Rowe 3-32, Griffin Fisher 4-52, Caden Hampton 3-33, Shawn Deskins 2-39 TD.

MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.