Danville falls to Pulaski 47-6
Published 5:53 pm Wednesday, August 30, 2023
By DAEJAH BARTLESON, Contributing writer
The Danville Admirals were ready for their first home game of the season, but Pulaski County was ready for them.
One week after narrowly missing a victory in their season opener, Danville didn’t get the chance for any fourth-quarter heroics Saturday as Pulaski proved too strong in a 47-6 victory in the Whitaker Bank Pigskin Classic at Admiral Stadium.
Pulaski moved the ball effectively and bottled up Danville’s offense, building a four-touchdown lead in the first half that was never threatened.
The Admirals (0-2) missed a scoring chance early in the game and gave up four first-half touchdowns before finally reaching the end zone in the third quarter as they lost their home opener for the first time since 2013.
Danville opened with a good opening drive, but it was stalled on the Pulaski 25-yard line by a holding call. Then the Admirals’ quarterback was forced to leave the game briefly because of a missing mouthpiece. He was brought back later, but the Admirals were stopped on downs and those misfortunes seemed to set the tone for the rest of the game.
Danville coach Frank Parks Jr. said those are the kinds of details the Admirals need to continue to work on.
“Right now we are lacking in that area of the small details, and that was a big momentum shift,” Parks Jr. said. “Until we get those fixed we’re going to struggle.”
The Maroons (1-1) drove 79 yards in 10 plays for their first touchdown, which came on a 19-yard pass from Zak Anderson to Ethan Idlewine on third-and-goal.
Zak Anderson, who was 15 for 25 for 244 yards, threw two touchdown passes to Boone Godby for 17 and 19 yards and a 13-yard TD pass to Ryan Anderson in the second quarter to take a 26-0 halftime lead.
Pulaski outgained Danville 278 yards to 28 in the first half and 482 to 109 overall. The Admirals were held to 18 rushing yards on 15 attempts in the first half.
Danville improved on both offense and defense at the start of the second half. First, the Admirals stopped the Maroons on downs, and then they drove 70 yards in only four plays to score when Enrique Gutierrez-Jacobs threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Demontrae Trumbo.
That sequence ignited the Admirals, but Pulaski answered quickly when Harris Denmyer returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards for a touchdown.
The Maroons added two more scores in the third quarter on rushing touchdowns by Kasen Brock to trigger the running-clock mercy rule.
Hall of fame inductees honored
Six new members of the Danville High School Athletic Hall of Fame were recognized and given their plaques at halftime Saturday: Mike Bibb, class of 1980, golf; Tryston Ford, class of 2012, football, basketball and track and field; Eugene Johnson, class of 1957, football and baseball; Alen Karapandzik, class of 2008, soccer; Tasha Milby; class of 2008, basketball, soccer and cross country; and Kaitlin Snapp, class of 2012, cross country and track and field.
The six honorees were joined by their families for an induction ceremony Saturday at the school and the recognition Saturday night during the game.
Scoring summary
Pulaski County 6 20 21 0 – 47
Danville 0 0 6 0 – 6
First Quarter
Pulaski – Ethan Idlewine 19 pass from Zak Anderson (kick failed), 3:21.
Second Quarter
Pulaski – Boone Godby 17 pass from Z. Anderson (Bryson Mounce kick), 9:09.
Pulaski – Godby 19 pass from Z. Anderson (Mounce kick), 3:14.
Pulaski – Ryan Anderson 13 pass from Z. Anderson (kick blocked), :44.
Third Quarter
Danville – Demontrae Trumbo 28 pass from Enrique Gutierrez-Jacobs (kick failed), 8:08.
Pulaski – Harris Denmyer 78 kickoff return (Mounce kick), 7:44.
Pulaski – Kasen Brock 30 run (Mounce kick), 3:47.
Pulaski – Brock 5 run (Mounce kick), 1:00.