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By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Simon Kenton had a scant three-point lead going into the second half of its Class 6A football playoff game on Friday, but coach Jeff Marksberry’s confidence in his team was not shaken.
“When you have the playmakers that we have on offense, it doesn’t take us long to score at times,” Marksberry said.
Within the first four minutes of second half, the Pioneers scored two touchdowns to take control of the game and went on to defeat Ryle, 41-23, to remain undefeated and advance to next week’s regional finals.
Simon Kenton will take a 12-0 record into its game at Cooper (9-3) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The winner will move on to the semifinals in the Class 6A state playoffs.
Several big plays carried Simon Kenton to the win over Ryle on Friday. One of them was a 41-yard run by senior tailback Dillion Powell on the offensive unit’s first play from scrimmage in the second half. Two players later, Powell scored on a 3-yard run and Aiden McNamara kicked the extra point to give the Pioneers a 20-10 lead with 10:24 left in the third quarter.
That scoring drive started on the Ryle 47-yard line because the Raiders shanked a punt at the end of their first offensive series in the second half. The next time Simon Kenton got the ball, however, it put together a 64-yard drive and capped it off with nifty trick play.
On a first-down play from the 29-yard line, Simon Kenton quarterback Cam Racke threw a long lateral pass to wide receiver Tanner Green that drew Ryle’s defensive players to one side of the field. Green then threw a lateral pass back to Racke and he tossed a touchdown pass to Logan Scott, who was all alone in the end zone.
“We’ve had that one in the pocket for a while and we thought we’d might as well use it since it’s getting late in the season,” Racke said of the unique scoring play. “Every time we run it in practice the defense bites on it and has no idea it’s coming so we figured that would happen in a game too.”
The other big plays by the Pioneers were Jacob Harney’s 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter and pass interceptions by Brian Carter and Harney that led to touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
“They made the plays when they had to and we didn’t,” said Ryle coach Mike Engler. “I mean, we had several drops (on pass plays) that could’ve been touchdowns, especially in the first half. But they made the plays and that’s why they came out on top.”
Simon Kenton finished with 352 total yards compared to Ryle’s 291. Powell was the game’s leading rusher with 129 yards and two touchdowns. Racke also had two rushing touchdowns and competed 12 of 24 passes for 144 yards.
Ryle junior quarterback Tanner Morgan was 24-of-41 for 184 yards and two touchdowns, but he also had two passes intercepted. The Raiders’ leading rusher was sophomore Jacob Chisholm with 96 yards.
“Ryle is a really good football team,” Marksberry said. “Our kids just made some big plays early on and in the second half our defense set the tone by getting the ball back for us so we could go down and score.”
The Pioneers’ next playoff game will be a rematch with Cooper, a team they defeated, 26-7, during the regular season. Cooper has won seven straight games since that loss and has a 7-0 record on its home field this season.
“Talk about big plays, those guys can make big plays themselves,” Marksberry said of Cooper. “We’ll just put together a game plan and our kids will come out and work hard and we’ll go play the game.”
SIMON KENTON 6 7 14 14 — 41
RYLE 0 10 7 6 — 23
SK – Powell 1 run (kick failed)
R – England 4 run (Molique kick)
SK – Harney 87 kickoff return (McNamara kick)
R – Molique 24 FG
SK – Powell 3 run (McNamara kick)
SK – Scott 29 pass from Racke (McNamara kick)
R – Chisholm 12 pass from Morgan (Molique kick)
SK – Racke 4 run (McNamara kick)
SK – Racke 3 run (McNamara kick)
R – Wright 10 pass from Morgan (pass failed)
RECORDS – Simon Kenton 12-0, Ryle 9-3.