By Evan Merrill
NKyTribune contributor
An unfortunate injury and an untimely turnover were key factors in Ryle’s 20-14 loss to Louisville Butler in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs on Friday at Ryle.
The Raiders had to play the second half without starting quarterback Easton Pilyer, who went out with a knee injury late in the second quarter. His replacement, junior Jake Smith, was doing a good job until a fumbled hand-off was recovered by Butler at the 5-yard line.
The Bears got their first touchdown following that turnover and ended up scoring 20 straight points to come away with the victory.
“We just had some unfortunate things happen where we lost our quarterback early in the game, the fumble at the goal line,” said Ryle coach Mike Engler. “All of the sudden we gave them hope, and they started making plays. We had them on the ropes and we started making some mistakes there. That’s part of the game though.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Ryle took a 7-0 lead with a methodical 14-play, 80-yard drive that ended with senior Jake Chisholm’s 1-yard run into the end zone. The only complication during that drive was Pilyer getting injured and not being able to return to the game.
“It was huge because Easton’s a running quarterback and all of the sudden we don’t have that,” Engler said. “We had to completely change some of our offense.”
The Raiders had a 7-0 lead at halftime, but Pilyer’s injury limited them offensively after that. They finished the game with just 10 passing yards.
Ryle’s running game led by Chisholm and sophomore Kyle England took over on the first drive of the second half. The duo combined for 46 yards and England capped it off by catching a 9-yard touchdown pass from Smith to give their team a 14-0 lead.
But the momentum shifted after the fumbled exchange between Smith and Chisholm was recovered by Butler and set up the visitors’ first touchdown.
Then Butler tied the game on a 58-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Chaz Burks to junior wide receiver Frank Caldwell.
The Raiders’ offensive woes continued and they had to punt the ball from deep in their own territory on two possessions. Butler blocked the second punt and recovered the ball at Ryle’s 11-yard line. Three plays later, Burks threw a 7-yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Taetae Crumes to give the Bears a 20-14 lead.
Ryle didn’t get much going on its next possession until two pass interference calls moved the ball to the Butler 38-yard line. But the Raiders ended up turning the ball over on downs.
Chisholm didn’t practice all week due to a sprained ankle, but he ended his career with another solid performance. He picked up 156 yards on 36 carries with one touchdown.
“He came out and ran a little bit yesterday, (but) to play as well as he played (Friday) was unbelievable,” said coach Engler. “I’m proud of these guys. I hate to lose early, but this program will keep growing and getting bigger and better. It just wasn’t our night.”
BUTLER 0 0 14 6 — 20
RYLE 0 7 7 0 — 14
R — Chisholm 1 run (Molique kick)
R — England 9 pass from Smith (Molique kick)
B — Jackson 1 run (Caldwell kick)
B — Caldwell 58 pass from Burks (Caldwell kick)
B — Crumes 7 pass from Burks (kick failed)
RECORDS: Ryle 8-3, Butler 7-4.