No. 9 Ryle's resolve overpowers No. 10 Frederick Douglass in a 28-27 OT thriller win

No. 9 Ryle (10-3) quarterback Nathan Verax stands at the 6-yard line, in shotgun formation. The emotional game flashes before his eyes: Indiana commit Jacob Savage has an ice pack on his foot and starting linebacker George Mintch is in crutches by the third quarter. A field goal blocked and an extra point that clanked off the upright. Everything that could go wrong for the Raiders on Friday night, did.

But there they were, bleeding, but surviving, down one point to No. 10 Frederick Douglass (8-5) in overtime, with a two-point conversion to decide it.

Verax takes the snap and runs to his right. He plunges into the end zone to convert the two-pointer and seal the victory for the Raiders, 28-27.

“I was talking to my coach and I need the ball,” said Verax about the game-deciding play. “I wasn’t going to get stopped for anything…I just really wanted the ball in my hands. I knew I could get it done.”

Game Recap

Kentucky’s version of the Orange Bowl started slow, with no scoring until the second quarter. In the KHSAA Class 6A quarterfinal, Frederick Douglass’ first three drives ended on turnovers on downs, each time getting closer and closer to the end zone.

Midway through the second quarter, Ryle forces a turnover on downs and starts with the ball on their own seven-yard line. Then Verax completes a pass along the sideline to Dylan Lee, who takes the ball all the way down inside the Broncos’ 10-yard line. After a couple of plays and a holding penalty, Verax kept the ball himself from 18 yards out, bounced off two defenders en route to scoring the first touchdown of the game.

Frederick Douglass responds on the next drive with their own star, Dakari Talbert, who scored a 26-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7.

Ryle looked for a quick score to go into halftime with momentum, and it seemed they would do so as they got into the red zone with a play-action reverse pass from Evan Kincaid to Lee. However, they ran the clock out, going into halftime tied 7-7.

Early in the third quarter, Ryle two-way standout Jacob Savage would run the ball for three yards and injure his foot on the play and not return. The Raiders would punt the ball to the Broncos, where Talbert would rush for 77 yards on the drive, capping it off with a 19-yard touchdown run, the Broncos leading for the first time, 14-7.

The injury doesn’t shake the Raiders, however. After two first downs in two plays, Lee makes an acrobatic 36-yard catch to put Ryle in the red zone. From there, backup running back Dameyn Anness ran through tackles on an 11-yard touchdown rush to re-tie the game 14-14, where the score would remain into the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, Anness caps off two more tough routes of 25 and 22 yards to get the Raiders to the Broncos’ six-yard line. However, the offense was stalled and forced to settle for a 23-yard field goal, which was blocked by Frederick Douglass.

The Broncos would take advantage, as a TJ Stewart 33-yard reception in double coverage put them into Ryle territory. Another Stewart first-down grab for 12 yards would set up yet another Talbert touchdown run from 20 yards out, as he spins and shifts through defenders on his journey to the end zone.

However, on the extra point, Ryle blocked it, leaving Frederick Douglass with a 20-14 lead with just over three minutes remaining.

On the final drive of the fourth quarter, Ryle moved the ball down with a mix of Verax completions and rushes. With a new set of downs on the Broncos’ three-yard line, Ryle is in prime position to win this game. But it comes more difficult than they expect. An incomplete pass, a two-yard rush, then another incomplete pass, and Ryle was sitting on the one-yard line, on fourth and goal, with time for only one more play. These are the situations you dream of.

The ball is handed off to Anness, who punches it in for the game-tying score with no time remaining. 20-20.

The Raiders line up for the extra point. The ball is kicked, and this time, high enough not to be blocked. And then—

DOINK!

The ball clashes against the right upright and bounces back onto the field. No good. Overtime, here we come.

For the overtime rules in KHSAA, the offense starts at the 10-yard line and has four downs to score. Each team has a chance on offense.

Frederick Douglass starts with the ball, looking to set the tone. Set the tone they do, as Talbert knocks off a nine-yard rush right away, which sets himself up in prime position to earn his fourth touchdown of the game, this time from a yard out. On the game, he complements his four rushing TDs with 210 rushing yards.

The Broncos elect to go for the extra point. This time, no ball was blocked or doinked, and the ball sails through the uprights, giving Frederick Douglass a 27-20 lead.

On Ryle’s first play, Verax looks for Lee in the corner of the end zone, drawing a pass interference penalty. This moved the ball up five yards and reset their set of downs. From there, Anness gets the ball to the one-yard line and then takes it into the end zone himself. 26-27. Anness stepped up in a big way, finishing the game with 85 rush yards and three TDs.

Now was the time for Ryle to make a game-deciding decision: go for the tie or the win. Go for the win they do, as Verax plunges the ball into the end zone on the game-winning two-point conversion. The Raiders swarm him in the end zone, jamming him into the bottom of a celebratory dog-pile. Verax would finish with 240 passing yards, 78 rushing yards, and a TD on the ground.

These back-and-forth, emotional games are no stranger to Ryle, who battled these situations earlier this season.

“We lost three games earlier in the year in which we had quite a few starters out,” said Ryle head coach Mike Engler. “We had guys that had to step up and play, and it was no different tonight. And you know what? You can’t ask for a better finish than tonight.”

Moving Forward

• The No. 9 Ryle Raiders move to 10-3 and are crowned region champions. They move on to the KHSAA 6A semifinals to play No. 3 South Warren next Friday.
• The No. 10 Frederick Douglass Broncos finish the season with an 8-5 record.