Pleasure Ridge Park 48 DuPont Manual 34

Pleasure Ridge Park High School football coach Jason Hiser has simple instructions for wide receiver Taywan Taylor.

"Don't get tackled," Hiser said he tells him. "We expect you to catch the ball, and we also expect you to take it to the end zone every time."

Taylor did just that in the fourth quarter Friday night, catching two passes and scoring on both as the Panthers pulled away to a 48-34 victory at Manual. The a 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior finished with five catches for 133 yards.

"My mentality is not to get tackled," Taylor said. "I feel like I'm one of the best receivers in the state, right up there with (Trinity's) James Quick. If he's not going to get tackled, I can't either."

PRP (4-0), No. 12 in The Courier-Journal's Litkenhous Ratings, racked up 595 yards of offense and defeated its first Class 6-A opponent this year. The Panthers were averaging 58 points per game, but some questioned a schedule that had included games against 4-A schools Fairdale, Valley and Doss.

"We feel like we weren't getting enough respect," Taylor said, "but we made a statement today."

Manual (1-2) committed three first-half turnovers and fell behind 19-0 but rallied behind senior running back Dishan Romine, who had 291 yards and five touchdowns on 24 carries.

"Dishan played his heart out for us," Crimsons coach Oliver Lucas said. "We matched them in the running game, but in the passing game their quarterback was just a little bit better tonight."

The wild contest featured five lead changes in the third quarter. The Crimsons went up 34-33 on Romine's final TD of the night, a 16-yarder with 6.7 seconds left in the period.

PRP ran the ball on its first 25 plays of the second half, but on No. 26, quarterback Spencer Sumpter hit Taylor with a 33-yard TD pass. Sumpter's two-point conversion pass to Malik Walker gave the Panthers a 41-34 edge with 8:20 remaining.

Sumpter was 13 of 20 for 274 yards and three TDs, but Hiser was more pleased with a running attack that produced 321 yards. Sophomore Delvon Dunn led the way with 144 yards on 21 carries.

"We've been throwing a lot of fancy throws out there the last few weeks, but when it boiled down to it, the offensive line did its job and the running backs and quarterback ran the ball," Hiser said.

Manual marched to the PRP 34 and faced fourth-and-one with less than three minutes remaining. Romine went in motion to the right, and quarterback Michael Nero handed off to fullback Chris Dyer. He was stuffed for no gain, giving the Panthers the ball with 2:52 remaining.

Lucas said it was "a bad call" on his part.

"We overcoached ourselves," he said. "Dishan's our best player, so we should have just given it to him. We tricked ourselves."

PRP sealed the victory on its next possession. On third-and-nine, Sumpter hit Taylor on a basic slant pattern. Taylor split two defenders and raced down the right side for 65 yards and a touchdown that made it 48-34 with 1:22 left.

Sumpter and Taylor have played together since their youth-league days, and it showed Friday night.

"If I hit Taywan, he's going to do something," Sumpter said. "He's the best athlete in the state. ... He surprised me on that last play, but he did it. He did it."

PRP 12 7 14 15 - 48
at Manual 0 13 21 0 - 34
PRP - Taywan Taylor 6 run (pass failed); PRP - Jacob Clair 69 pass from Spencer Sumpter (run failed); PRP - Joseph Lewis 55 interception return (Nick West kick); M - Dishan Romine 5 run (Alex Calleja kick); M - Romine 10 run (kick failed); M - Romine 12 run (Calleja kick); PRP - Sumpter 1 run (pass failed); M - Romine 53 run (Calleja kick); PRP - Chase Pierce 2 run (Delvon Dunn run); M - Romine 16 run (Calleja kick); PRP - Taylor 33 pass from Sumpter (Malik Walker pass from Sumpter); PRP - Taylor 65 pass from Sumpter (West kick).

PRP Manual
Total yards 595 419
First downs 26 23
Rushes-yds. 50-321 42-395
Comp-Att-Int 13-20-1 3-8-2
Passing yards 274 24
Fumbles-lost 1-0 6-1
Penalties-yds. 10-80 2-10
Punts-avg. 0-0 0-0http://www.usatodayhss.com/louisville/article/prp-at-manual-football-kickoff-changed-to-6-30-p-m-today-to-avoid-possible-storms--2012309070066