Jim Mashek

MIKIE BENTON’s PANTHERS DRAW LOUISVILLE’s HOLY CROSS ACADEMY FOR FIRST-ROUND HOME PLAYOFF GAME

RUSSELLVILLE — With four minutes or so left in the first-half, Larry Baker, the public-address announcer at historic Rhea Stadium, was quick to let everyone in on some critical information.

“We’re going to a running clock the rest of the game …”

Dude wasn’t kidding.

The Russellville High School football team, intent on extending its winning streak while securing a home first-round postseason game in next month’s KHSAA Class 1A playoffs, left the high school an hour or so before dusk on Friday evening, taking the short drive up Ninth Street to tangle with the Fulton County Pilots in a game to determine a district championship.

And the home-field advantage for postseason play, beginning in less than two weeks.

The Panthers pulled into the parking lot behind Rhea Stadium as a team on the mission.

“Yes, the guys were ready to play,” eighth-year Russellville coach Mikie Benton said when it was over.

Russellville 64, Fulton County 14.

Larry Baker reminded the enthusiastic crowd on hand about the KHSAA-mandated running clock when the Panthers and Fulton County returned from a 25-minute halftime …

“We’re going to a running clock, the rest of the game,” Baker intoned.

The KHSAA rulebook says if you take a 35-point lead, even in the first half, you’ll go to a running clock, even if the team that’s behind manages some kind of unlikely comeback bid.

Fulton County coach James Bridges and Benton embraced before the game, during the pre-game coin toss, and they did it again, after the Panthers completed the task at hand.

In spectacular fashion.

“They’ve got a lot of speed,” Bridges said.

And Benton and Russellville’s crafty offensive coordinator, former WKU tight end Nick True, know what to do with it.

The Panthers extended their winning streak, to four games, heading into next week’s regular-season finale against Butler County High School on Friday night in Morgantown. Russellville (4-5 overall, 3-0 in the KHSAA’s Class 1A, 1st District) will open postseason play, at Rhea Stadium, in the second weekend of November against Louisville’s Holy Cross Academy.

When it was over, Mikie Benton made a series of key points to his players. He was quick to remind them that Holy Cross strolled into Rhea Stadium, in postseason play, before dismantling the Panthers, 49-12, in the 2023 KHSAA playoffs.

After Holy Cross eliminated the Panthers, again inside Rhea’s cozy confines — the imposing stadium was completed in 1939, during FDR’s ‘New Deal’ with Works Progress Administration Funds — with a resounding 42-14 victory over Russellville on November 4, 2022.

“Overall, we played a great game. All facets,” Benton said. “One mistake on special teams (Wesley Goodman’s 70-yard punt return for a first-quarter score) led to that early touchdown …

“After that, we locked in. We were disruptive on defense, and that made it difficult for Fulton to pass downfield. Our defensive line played their best game of the year. Constant pressure. Our secondary kids made some great plays as well …

“Taking the win streak to four games, and getting home-field advantage, for the first two rounds of the playoffs, that’s huge.”

But it was Russellville’s offense that was ready to drive the train, and it was senior quarterback Jerius Coleman’s job to make that happen.

“I thought our offensive line was ready to dominate,” Coleman said. “We just wanted to come out and control the game … We knew if we could get the running game going, that just opens up things for the passing game.”

Does it ever.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Coleman seldom leaves the field, playing in the secondary when the Panthers on defense and sometimes lending a hand on special teams. That wasn’t necessary, in the case of Friday night’s rout of Fulton County, but Benton can’t really empty his bench with roughly 35 players IN HIS ENTIRE PROGRAM.

Russellville’s enrollment? A little over 300 students.

Nick True, Russellville’s colorful offensive coordinator, likes the mental approach the Panthers have shown over the last month or so.

“The one word we’ve used, especially on offense, is TRUST,” True said. “Every aspect of our game … our players trusted one another to do their job, put 100 percent effort into what they were doing. Every running back hit the seams, knowing they would be there, and Jerius (Coleman) trusted every read.

“The receivers trusted that Jerius would put the ball in the right place. When an entire offense operates around trust, special things can happen.”

Something special happened Friday night at Rhea.

Coleman points out that the Panthers had to make some adjustments on the offensive line. Junior guard William Holloway stepped into the starting lineup on the left side, opposite right guard Kendarius Boyd.

Boyd, an agile RHS senior, is good as a lead blocker on sweeps for Russellville teammates Labryan Nourse and Jamarion Gardner. Gardner is adept at getting to the edge and leaving defenders in the dust. Nourse is more of a piledriver, a 6-foot, 185-pound senior who finished the night with 184 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

On just 12 carries.

Meanwhile, Gardner, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound junior, must know about the legacy of the late, great Vince Lombardi:

“Run to daylight.”

Gardner carried the ball 11 times, for 143 yards and a touchdown. Russellville’s offensive tackles, seniors Landon Bibb and Takato Johnson, are tough customers in the trenches. Jerius Coleman is a left-handed quarterback, so Bibb, the right tackle, is often seen opening big holes for Gardner and Nourse. The more rangy Johnson — “we call him ‘The Big Cat,'” Coleman said — usually has his quarterback’s back from the blind side.

Then again, it doesn’t end there.

The Panthers tend to have each other’s backs.

The 6-foot-2, 175-pound Coleman has drawn some interest from NCAA Division II and III colleges, and Lindsey Wilson College, which plays NAIA football in Columbia, Kentucky.

“They’re looking at me as a safety,” Coleman said.

They might want to take another look at Jerius Coleman, as a quarterback.

Coleman has a deft touch on the deep ball, which he showed time and again against the Fulton County secondary on Friday night. He completed six of eight passes, for 184 yards and FOUR TOUCHDOWNS, while adding three tackles on defense. JaCoveon Temple-Dickerson, a 5-foot-10, 155-pound junior, is the Panthers’ leading receiver, on the year, with a team-high 34 receptions for 743 yards and 12 touchdowns.

But Coleman has other options.

Junior wideout/cornerback Amarus Morrow, an exceptional deep threat on the sidelines, had three catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Panthers freshman Randall Morrow, Jerius Coleman’s cousin, had a 36-yard TD reception himself. Amarus Morrow led the Russellville defense with seven tackles on the night, but the truth of it is the Panthers used a gang-tackling approach to bring the Fulton County running game to a virtual halt.

And Rhea Stadium’s PA man, the aforementioned Larry Baker, addressed the logistical realities of the game one last time as the third quarter came to a close.

“We’re going to a running clock, for the rest of the game,” Baker said.

The Panthers celebrated when it was over, looking ahead to next week’s game at Butler County and then the opportunity to play their first two playoff games at Rhea.

We’re talkin’ some serious mojo.

When the running clock did its thang — mercifully, in the visiting Pilots’ case — it seemed Mikie Benton and the Panthers were ready to play again ASAP …

They’ll have to wait until Friday, however, when they hit the road to tangle with Butler County in Morgantown.

“We’re going to be ready to close out the regular season,” Benton said, “and then, hopefully, continue the magic against Holy Cross in the first round of the playoffs.”

Major props, Panthers. We’ll see what happens next.