The Adair County Indians traveled to Casey County Friday night and came home with their first victory of the season. An early start time, a lightening delay, an injury and on the road play presented them with obstacles, but the team overcame them all and had over 500 yards of offense in a game. The first time they have accumulated that many offensive yards in a single game since 2016.
"I am excited about getting that first win out of the way. Now, we have to keep this going. It's a lot more fun than the past two weeks have been. I'm proud of our young men because we went down two scores early in the game. When Braxton McKinney got dinged up early in the game, there was no panic. We just ran offense that Brody Karnes was comfortable with. Once he settled in, the boys went to work. It was great to see our young men pull together and really get after the Rebels. We had a good defensive game. We still have to cut down on mental errors, though.” said Cross.
"Offensively, I felt like we ran the ball really well. We still missed some assignments but my guys really responded to the challenge of going on the road, the early start, and getting down early to our opponent” he said.
"The guys came out of the lightning delay with a different mindset and focus, which is one of the tenets of our program. It was great to see the variety of players contributing to the team's success. We had gotten down 14-6 when Ryder Rogers ripped off a 53 yard touchdown run on a toss play, then added the two point conversion to tie it up before the half” said Cross.
“Getting the 27 yard touchdown on that Brody Karnes scramble to open the second half was an important momentum builder. Things just snowballed from there as Callum Darnell got cranked up with some big runs on the next drive and Karnes showing some strength pushing the pile into the end zone for one of his two touchdowns” he said.
Cross continued, "After the defense forced its third straight fourth down stop, Ryder notched his second of three touchdowns on an explosive 30-yd run. Ryder is a physical player who is attracting the attention of some college programs as he goes through this season. He finished a great all-around game with 138 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries. He also played a stellar game defensively with 15 total tackles.”
"I'd have to say that Callum Darnell's ability to use his speed and vision was the offensive story of the game. Cal had 202 yards rushing on only ten carries. He had several long runs that got our crowd really fired up. That crowd really helps when you're on the road” he said.
Cross said, "Bryce Russell forced a fumble and Alex Martin recovered one in their defensive debuts. Those two really bring some speed to our defense. That's an added dimension that has us excited for the rest of the season. Once some of our first-year guys get comfortable, it's got to pay dividends later in the season."
"Tristan Mullins, Ryder's linebacking partner, had 12 tackles with three for losses. That was the defensive story- our ability to get the Rebels off-schedule. Tristan, Ryder, Brody, Mahlon Coblentz, Arthur Harper, and Alex Martin had eight tackles-for-loss combined and seemed like they were living in the Casey County backfield all night. They were very disruptive. Loved seeing the balance and big plays combine for a great win” he said.
The Adair County High School football team will be back on the field Friday at McCreary Central with kickoff at 6:30 p.m. central time.
