The Eagles extended their winning streak to three games on Friday night, defeating McCracken County 56-49 in an offensive bout.
Apollo took its time on their opening drive, methodically moving up the field. A six-minute drive resulted in junior Donte Dixon scoring on a five-yard rushing touchdown to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 5:53 left in the first quarter.
Apollo recovered the second bad snap of the game for McCracken County before the first quarter came to a close and they took advantage.
Following a fourth down conversion, Dixon took one 30 yards to the house and made it a 14-0 game with 9:43 left in the second quarter.
After a solid defensive stand, the Eagles scored again, this time with junior quarterback Christian Combs finding junior Evan Miller for a 14-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead with 5:26 left in the first half.
A nice pick from junior Seth Morris put them at the nine after a penalty just over a minute later. This led to a five-yard rushing touchdown for sophomore Noah Rhinerson to make it a 28-0 game with 4:18 left in the second quarter.
The Mustangs finally found the endzone on the ensuing drive, scoring on a one-yard rushing touchdown for senior Jeremiah Hughes after an 87-yard pass had set them up.
Looking to minimize its deficit McCracken County attempted an onside kick, but didn’t kick it far enough.
Despite this, the Mustangs found themselves at the 40 with 45 seconds left in the first half after a punt and took advantage.
Pass interference on Apollo brought them to the nine and then junior quarterback Pryor Lamb found senior Zander Mayes for a touchdown and made it 28-14 going into the locker room. McCracken County wasn’t done either.
They carried their momentum into the first drive of the second half, capping off an 80-yard drive with a 23-yard rushing touchdown from Lamb. This cut Apollo’s lead to 28-21 with 7:41 left in the third quarter.
The Eagles responded swiftly, as Combs found Miller for a 47-yard touchdown to make it 35-21, but that didn’t deter the Mustangs.
The following drive McCracken County moved its way downfield and capped off a three-minute drive with a five-yard rushing touchdown from Hughes to make it 35-28 with 4:15 left in the third quarter.
Apollo didn’t let that faze them offensively however, taking its time getting downfield and scoring on a 34-yard pass from Combs to Rhinerson to make it 42-28 with 10:48 left in the fourth quarter.
A pick nearly set the Eagles up for another score but fell short and was forced to punt. But the defense came through again on the following drive as the ball was intercepted and then fumbled into the hands of senior Jarrod Gray who took it 10 yards to make it a 49-28 game with 6:36 left to play.
McCracken responded with a five-yard touchdown from Lamb to senior Zack Masek, making it a 49-35 game with 5:09 to play.
The Eagles had an answer once again using a near two-minute drive to have Rhinerson score a one-yard rushing touchdown to make it a 56-35 game with 3:12 to play.
The Mustangs didn’t go away however, making it a 56-49 with 35.4 seconds left to play thanks to two passing touchdowns. However, Apollo recovered the ensuing onside kick and secured the 56-49 win.
Head Coach John Edge was thrilled with his team’s offensive performance, saying that was some of the best football he’s seen at Eagle Stadium in awhile.
“Offensively that was the best game we’ve played in two years,” Edge said. “Coach Vance and coach Bates did a great job of setting us up and getting us in the right spots.”
Rhinerson and Dixon continued to be a deadly combo for Apollo, tallying 270 rushing yards total and five touchdowns between the two.
Rhinerson had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown, while Dixon’s touchdowns were all rushing.
Combs also found success under center, throwing for 235 yards and five touchdowns on the night for the Eagles.
Edge said it’s the offensive line that has really helped their dynamic backfield get off to so much success this season and to tally 505 total yards of offense against the Mustangs.
“Our offensive line,” Edge said. “Coach Bates has done a great job. Our offensive line has been studly. They have absolutely dominated games this year.”
While their offense shined, the defense did as well in the first half. However, the second half left much to be desired defensively and that’s something Edge says that they will focus on going forward.
“We gotta shore up some things in our secondary,” Edge said. “We had some people injured and stuff, so we’re just going to go back to the drawing board and keep working on some guys defensively. We made a lot of stops early in the game and those are big too, but we didn’t do anything in the second half, I’ll tell you that.”
All in all, Edge and his coaching staff were ecstatic with their performance against an offensively sound team in the Mustangs.
“It’s a great win for our program,” Edge said. “McCracken is still a good football team and they’re going to be an issue in the district.”
Apollo now has a bye week and will take two weeks to rest up and then prepare for its road matchup with Henderson County at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 8.
