[Stardust]

Junior quarterback Drew Barker ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns to lead Conner past Ryle in a water-logged 27-21 victory on Friday.

Largely relegated to their running game by a second-half downpour, the Cougars (5-2) amassed 249 ground yards to best former district rival Ryle (3-4) for just the second time in their last eight meetings.

Senior Cameron Fogle contributed 73 rushing yards on 10 carries for the Cougars. Junior Andrew Way chipped in 54 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards. Both players scored a touchdown.

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“They’ve got big playmakers. It’s hard to contain them,” Ryle coach Bryson Warner said. “They’ve got a good offense that takes what the defense gives them.”

Despite putting up their lowest point total of the season, the Cougars still managed to break off nine plays of more than 20 yards. Three of those big plays came on fourth down.

“We’re a big-play team,” Conner coach James Trosper. “That’s what the spread offense does for you. You figure out what the defense is trying to do to you and then you take advantage of it.”

The Cougars needed every one of those big plays to overcome a stark disadvantage in field position.

Conner’s average drive began on its own 18-yard line. The average Raider possession started at their own 41-yard line in a tight game in which neither team ever led by more than a touchdown.

“That’s Ryle’s makeup,” Trosper said. “They want to play great defense and pin you (deep in their territory), and that’s what they did to us.”

Despite the rainy conditions, Barker added 112 yards and a score through the air. However, his big night got off to an inauspicious start. Barker tossed Conner’s first play from scrimmage to Ryle linebacker Dylan Plvan, who returned the interception 18 yards for a Raider touchdown.

Conner scored on its next two drives, the first a 70-yard march capped by a Fogle run followed by an 85-yard drive finished off by a Barker scamper.

The two long drives helped Conner to a 227-110 edge in total offense in the first half even though the game entered the break tied at 14-14.

The contest was knotted at 21-21 when the Cougars began the game’s deciding drive at their own 15-yard line. The 11-play trek ended with a 7-yard Barker touchdown run to give the Cougars a 27-21 lead with five minutes left to play.

Ryle’s ensuing drive reached the red zone, but stalled when senior quarterback Jake Ashley’s fourth-down pass sailed over the head of Nathan Davis in the back of the end zone.


Ryle 7 7 7 0 –21
Conner 14 0 7 6 –27

R–Plvan 18 interception return (Mead kick)
C - Fogle 29 run (Dunaway kick)
C - Barker 20 run (Dunaway kick)
R–Pulice 8 run (Mead kick)
R–Pulice 27 run (Mead kick)
C–Way 20 pass from Barker (Dunaway kick)
C - Barker 7 run (kick blocked)