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By Evan Merrill
NKyTribune contributor
The Ryle football team won four games by big margins leading up to their Class 6A district opener against Cooper on Friday. That trend didn’t continue as the Raiders narrowly defeated their neighboring rival, 49-42, in front of a packed crowd.
Ryle’s defense came into the night allowing just 12.5 points per game, but covering Cooper senior wide receiver Dante Hendrix and senior running back Jaden Jackson proved troublesome for the Raiders. Hendrix caught 13 passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns while Jackson scored a pair of rushing TDs.
“Hats off to Cooper,” said Ryle coach Mike Engler. “They had a great game plan going in. They exploited some things in our defense and we need to make those corrections because there’s a good chance we could see them down the road at some point.”
The Ryle offense was able to win the shootout, but it wasn’t senior quarterback Tanner Morgan, who threw for 156 yards and one touchdown, leading the charge this time. Junior running back Jacob Chisholm returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, scored on three rushing plays and finished the night with 365 all-purpose yards.
“It really gets our team pumped up,” Chisholm said of his kickoff return. “Against Highlands, I returned the opening kickoff. It really just gets our team fired up and we come out and play.”
The score went back and forth after Chisholm’s game-opening return, leading to a 35-35 score at halftime. The Raiders only allowed seven points after the half and made two fourth-down stops late in the game, one inside the red zone.
“Our defense struggled early, then at halftime they made some adjustments and got some composure,” coach Engler said. “I’m proud of our defense. They took an offense that scored 35 points in the first half and held them to seven in the second half. They made plays when they had to make plays and that’s the makings of a pretty good football team.”
The game turned physical at times with big hit after big hit, and there were several penalties called. The physical nature had to do with the ongoing rivalry between the schools as well as being an important district game.
“Pretty much we’re fighting for dominance,” Chisholm said. “We both hate each other. Everybody knows Ryle and Cooper are big rivals. We both want to be champs. Cooper’s taken us the last two years, and we really wanted to get out there and win the game, so did Cooper. They punched us in the mouth, we punched them in the mouth. It’s just a big rivalry game.”
For Ryle, who pulled its starters in each of the last four games after building a big lead, it proved to be good preparation for its next two games against district opponent Conner and undefeated Simon Kenton.
“This is the first game we’ve really been in a dogfight, other than Henry Clay (on Aug. 26),” Chisholm said. “This is the first challenge we’ve had and it was just a solid performance by our defense to come in and get a couple stops. Then our offense, just ground and pound and just drove down the field, ate time off the clock and scored.”
COOPER 14 21 7 0 — 42
RYLE 21 14 7 7 — 49
R – Chisholm 99 kickoff return (Molique kick)
C – Hendrix 1 pass from Lonaker (Hollifield kick)
R – Burch 3 run (Molique kick)
C – Hendrix 3 pass from Lonaker (Hollifield kick)
R – Chisholm 8 run. (Molique kick)
C – Jackson 84 run. (Hollifield kick)
R – Chisholm 44 run. (Molique kick)
C – Burns 28 pass from Lonaker (Hollifield kick)
R – Ashley 70 pass from Morgan (Molique kick)
C – Jackson 5 run (Hollifield kick)
C – Hendrix 35 pass from Lonaker (Hollifield kick)
R – Chisholm 12 run (Molique kick)
R – Burch 7 run (Molique kick)
RECORDS: Ryle 7-0, Cooper 5-3