Red Devils rally back in 2nd half to beat Hornets

Coal Grove's Kaden Murphy goes 65 yards for a score. (Photo by Jeremy Holtzapfel)

Russell's Jayden Pennington hauls in his 65-yard TD catch. (Photo by Jeremy Holtzapfel)

Russell's Shawn Deskins catches an 11-yard TD pass to seal the win. (Photo by Jeremy Holtzapfel)

Coal Grove's Kaden Murphy (14) and xxxxxxxxxx (56) gang tackle. (Photo by Jeremy Holtzapfel)

FLATWOODS — First games are always full of unknowns, words that Russell head coach T.J. Maynard echoed after his teams' win.

"The first game is just survive and get that W, because nothing goes the way you plan it."

But in the end, the plan worked as the Red Devils rallied back in the second half for a 20-8 comeback win over the Coal Grove Hornets on Friday night at Henry R. Evans Stadium/Ivan McGlone Field.

“The hats’ got to go off to Russell, they have exceptional players on offense. Both sides of the ball played well,” said Coal Grove coach Jay Lucas.

Things seemed to go as planned in the early going, as the Red Devils were the beneficiaries of the game's first turnover on the second play from scrimmage as Shawn Deskins recovered a loose ball.

But Russell (1-0) couldn't capitalize despite driving down the Coal Grove 9, as Jayden Frasure's fourth down pass to Kanenan Jacobs fell incomplete.

The game remained scoreless until the second quarter when Russell's Jordan Rowe capped off an 8- play drive with a 7-yard touchdown plunge off the left side of the line to give the Red Devils an 6-0 lead.

Rowe had a key run during the drive, gaining 16 yards on a 3rd-and-13 counter play to keep the drive alive.

But the lead wouldn't last for long.

The Hornets needed just one play to answer, as Murphy took a handoff off the left side, found a crease, shook off a couple of tacklers and raced 61 yards to pay dirt to tie the game up.

Rylan Smith's two-point conversion pass to a diving Caden Turner in the corner of the end zone put the Hornets up 8-6 with 8:35 before halftime.

The Hornets came up with a critical red zone stop just before halftime to thwart another Red Devil scoring chance. Defensive tackle Caiden Harris stripped the ball loose and recovered it himself to give the Hornets the ball back and preserve the slim lead at the break.

The momentum carried over into the third quarter for the Hornets, forcing Russell into a 3-and-out.

The Hornets then began what looked like a vintage Coal Grove football drive, rattling off 9-plays to the Russell 40. But the drive would stall as Murphy's 4th down run would come up 1-yard short, giving the ball back to the Red Devils.

"We were able to get off the field on that fourth down stop and that really turned the momentum of the game," said Maynard.

Then two plays later, Frasure made a play fake and hit teammate Jayden Pennington in stride down the seam for a 65-yard touchdown pass to give the Red Devils the lead for good.

Frasure converted the two-point pass to an open Lane Osborne to make it 14-8 with 2:06 remaining in the third.

Postgame interview with WR Jayden Pennington

"There were some things we liked in the first half, we just missed it. We talked about it at halftime, that we would run a fast screen at first to try and get them out and then try and get a go route over top of them and Jayden (Frasure) made the throw."

The Red Devils forced a three-and-out on Coal Grove's next possession and took control of the game.

Russell took the ball and drove 11 plays, covering 86 yards to put the game away.

The final play of the drive saw Frasure field a rolling snap from center, roll to his right and heave a pass to a wide-open Deskins in the end zone to give Russell a 20-8 advantage.

Good fortunes continued for the Red Devils, as they recovered a squib kick on the ensuing kickoff and were able to grind down the clock even more and prevent any comeback hopes for Coal Grove.

Maynard praised his offensive line for their ability to take over in the fourth quarter and control the game.

"I can't be more proud of a group. We talked before that going into the year, that was going to be a worry for us. But I thought those guys held up good."

Despite the loss, Lucas felt the game was a great experience for them.

“I thought it was a great football game. It was a playoff-like game, week one. That’s always tough when you open up with a game like that. Both teams played their guts out on both sides of the football.”

Russell hits the road next week to face rival Greenup County in the Backyard Brawl. Coal Grove will be at home against Adena.

"We're gonna enjoy this one tonight and we'll get to work on Sunday for Greenup and go down to Musketeerland and give it a shot."

Coal Grove 0 8 0 0 = 8

Russell 0 6 8 6 = 20

Second Quarter

Ru — Jordan Rowe 7 run (kick no good), 8:57.

CG — Kaden Murphy 61 run (Rylan Smith to Caden Turner), 8:35.

Third Quarter

Ru — Jayden Frasure 65 pass to Jayden Pennington (Jayden Frasure pass to Osborne), 2:06.

Fourth Quarter

Ru — Jayden Frasure 16 pass to Shawn Deskins (run failed), 6:29.

———

CG Ru

First downs 7 16

Rushes-yards 25-139 32-134

Passing yards 33 164

Total yards 172 298

Cmp-Att-Int 4-9-0 11-14-0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 5-45 4-45

Punts-average 2-53.5 1-33.0

———

Individual Leaders

RUSHING–Coal Grove: Kaden Murphy 14-126 TD, Caden Turner 5-20, Rylan Smith 5-minus 1, Braden Schug 1-1, Leland McKnight 1-minus 6: Russell: Jayden Frasure 14-62, Jordan Rowe 12-63 TD, Osborne 1-0, Anderson Haggard 5-9.

PASSING–Coal Grove: Rylan Smith 4-8-0 33, Leland McKnight 0-1-0 0; Russell: Jayden Frasure 11-14-0 164 2TD

RECEIVING–Coal Grove: Caden Turner 1-6 TD; Russell: Jayden Pennington 4-85 TD, Cayden Pennington 4-50, Shawn Deskins 1-11 TD, Jordan Rowe 3-17, Caden Mitchell 1-1.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.