CHESAPEAKE — Coal Grove got 21 points off turnovers, churned out over 300 yards on the ground, and the Hornets defeated the Chesapeake Panthers 44-14 to retain the Little Brown Jug on Friday night in Ohio Valley Conference play.
On the defensive side of the ball, Coal Grove was able to capitalize on three of the four Panther turnovers, thanks to a pair of fumble recoveries and interceptions. So far this season, the Hornets have picked off 6 passes as a team.
Then on offense, the one-two punch of Kaden Murphy and Caden Turner continued to set the pace. Murphy finished the game with 159 yards on 11 carries and 3 touchdowns, while Turner had 12 carries for 56 yards and 2 scores.
"Turner did a fantastic job going up the middle and I gotta give him credit for going off tackle as well." said Lucas.
Murphy gave a lot of praise to his teammates up front as well.
"I knew our line was stronger than all of them," said Murphy. " So I knew if we could get outside early and get a few touchdowns, it would just set the tone for the game"
The Panthers succumbed to the turnover bug on the very first snap of the game, and Turner came from his defensive end position to recover the ball at the Chesapeake 34.
It took the Hornets just 7 plays to find the end zone, as Turner negotiated the final yard himself. Murphy found his way in for the 2-point conversion and Coal Grove led 8-0 with 8:37 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Panthers would advance into Coal Grove territory on their following drive, only to have it halted when Murphy came up with an interception on a fourth down play.
Then Chesapeake's next drive ended when Braydon Klaiber scooped up a loose ball at midfield and returned it deep into Panther territory.
Both of those turnovers turned into Murphy touchdown runs. The first was a 57 yard dash and the other was a 9-yard score to help stretch the Hornets lead out to 24-0 with less than a minute remaining in the quarter.
But the Panthers were finally able to respond, as quarterback Jacob Harris hit a wide open Ethan Kerns on a post pattern for a 68-yard touchdown strike on the final play of the quarter. Harris and Kerns hooked up again on the 2-point try and the Panthers trailed 24-8.
Coal Grove (3-1, 1-0 OVC) continued to stretch their lead out further in the second. Turner bulled his way in for his second score to cap off a 5-play drive and make it 32-8.
Then quarterback Rylan Smith decided to get into the act by calling his own number on a counter play, making a cutback across the field, and then outrunning the rest of the defense for a 56-yard scamper to extend the Coal Grove lead out to 38-8 with 5:06 left before halftime.
The Panthers (3-1, 0-1 OVC) struggled to get their rushing game going, being held to just 134 yards. Coming into Friday, Chesapeake was averaging 324 yards per game.
"We feel good about our front seven guys. Those guys are playing well against the run," said Lucas.
Murphy added his final score on Coal Grove's first drive of the second half, scoring on a 30-yard run as he hit the outside and out ran the Panthers to make it 44-8.
On their ensuing possession, the Panthers put together their best drive of the night, going 76 yards in 13 plays to reach the end zone. Harris nosed his way over the goal line to round out the scoring in the game.
Harris finished the night 8 of 13 for 140 yards through the air. His top target, Ethan Kerns led all receivers with 4 catches for 113 yards.
Drew Plantz led all Panther rushers with 73 yards on 11 carries. Andrew Daniels had 9 rushes for 43 yards.
The Hornets will be back at home next Friday against Portsmouth. Chesapeake will be on the road in a non league game against Grandview Heights.
Coal Grove 24 14 6 0 = 44
Chesapeake 8 0 6 0 = 14
First Quarter
CG — Caden Turner 1 run (Murphy run), 8:37.
CG — Kaden Murphy 64 run (Smith pass to McKnight), 4:06.
CG — Kaden Murphy 9 run (Turner run), 0:59.
Che — Ethan Kerns 68 pass from Jacob Harris (run failed), 0:00.
Second Quarter
CG — Caden Turner 3 run (Murphy run), 9:10.
CG — Rylan Smith 56 run (run failed), 5:06.
Third Quarter
CG — Kaden Murphy 30 run (kick failed), 8:54.
Che — Jacob Harris 1 run (run failed), 0:42.
———
CG Che
First downs 15 13
Rushes-yards 36-317 35-134
Passing yards 0 140
Total yards 317 274
Cmp-Att-Int 0-0-0 8-13-2
Fumbles-lost 0-0 2-2
Penalties-yards 6-55 9-70.5
Punts-average 0-0.0 0-0.0
———
Individual Leaders
RUSHING–Coal Grove: Kaden Murphy 11-159 4TD, Caden Turner 12-56 TD, Ryland Smith 2-69 TD, Case Webb 7-34, Brayden Young 1-2, Liam White 1-0, Leland McKnight 2-minus 3; Chesapeake: Jacob Harris 10-7 TD, Drew Plantz 11-73, Andrew Daniels 9-46, Kaden Perkins 3-2, Andrew Issacs 2-6.
PASSING–Coal Grove: None; Chesapeake: Jacob Harris 8-13-2 140 TD.
RECEIVING–Coal Grove: None; Chesapeake: Ethan Kerns 4-113 TD, Kaden Perkins 2-4, Drew Plantz 1-7, Andrew Issacs 1-16.
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