The Devils claim their first district title in six years. Freshman running back Kaden Benge ran beyond his years tonight, getting behind his pads and churning out hard yards.

Congratulations to the Devils and now the Devils are off next week for their bye week.

This is a real statement victory for Russell and congratulations to them. This is a senior class that had a tremendous amount of challenges from the first time I saw them in middle school as they struggled to pull out wins, getting beat badly at times. But during that struggle they clawed and fought and never gave up. The result, to go out with a district championship and a potential nice playoff run, is a real honor and T.J. Maynard did an excellent job keeping this group focused especially after a couple of stumbles early in the season. 

Beating East Carter is a big deal. This is a team that came just two points from the state semifinals last season and as I mentioned in another thread, under Coach Champlin a down year for East Carter is 5-5 and being a tough out for the playoffs and East Carter is far from down. East has a chance next week to pick up their seventh win of the season. All the best to both in the playoffs!

On 10/25/2024 at 10:11 PM, DevilMayCare said:

Freshman running back Kaden Benge ran beyond his years tonight, getting behind his pads and churning out hard yards.

The numbers aren't flashy - 105 yards and 2 TDs - but Benge took what was there and lowered his shoulders to move piles an extra couple of yards when East wasn't in a giving mood. With a district championship on the line against a quality opponent on the road, he delivered the best performance of his young career.

Photos by John Flavell for The Daily Independent.