The Apollo High School football program relied on the consistent effort of their defense to come away with a victory over visiting North Hardin on Friday night.
The Eagles only allowed one touchdown on the evening, winning the defensive stalemate by a score of 10-7.
The game lacked excitement for much of the evening, but the final two minutes more than made up for it.
Adjustments by both teams on defense transformed the game into a bout of defensive stops, with Apollo (2-2) securing two down the stretch.
“We’ve made a lot of adjustments defensively over the last couple of games, and we tackled better,” said Apollo head coach John Edge. “We still have a lot to work on offensively; it was just one of those games where we weren’t running the ball well and struggled to move it downfield.”
The scoreless second half was ladened with punts and missed field goals, but the Eagles were able to secure big stops when it counted. Still down three, North Hardin (1-3) failed to convert on a fourth and inches deep in Apollo territory with just under two minutes remaining.
The Trojans initially lined up for a field goal on the play but — after alternating timeouts — elected to try a quarterback keeper out of the shotgun formation. The turnover on downs gave Apollo the ball on their 10-yard line.
The Trojans burned all of their timeouts and secured a stop on third down that forced the Eagles to punt. An errant punt gave the Trojans excellent field possession with 17 seconds left, but they could only convert on one play before time expired.
“We still have a lot to clean up, but I’m very proud of this football program; we’ve come a long way,” Edge said. “This was a great defensive game, but there’s also going to be nights where we will have to score 40 to win. That’s what championship teams do.”
Apollo’s lone touchdown came on the opening drive when Christian Combs connected with Noah Rhinerson on a screen pass that he took 39 yards for a touchdown. The Trojans responded just minutes later when running back David Boyd took a handoff 80 yards across the goal line.
Placekicker Harrison Bowman booted one in from 36 yards with just over six minutes remaining in the second frame, which would ultimately be the deciding factor.
Combs finished the evening with over 130 yards in the air and one touchdown, while Rhinerson added over fifty yards in the air and 30 on the ground to go with his one touchdown. Donte Dixon added over 30 yards on the ground for the Eagles while Evan Miller reeled in nearly 100 yards receiving.
Apollo will travel to Meade County next Friday to take on the Green Wave at 7 p.m. EDT.
“We have to continue to get better and get ready for our district opponents,” Edge said. “That’s what is the most important part of the season — to get ready for district, so you can get in and get seeded in the playoffs.”
