By Evan Merrill
NKyTribune reporter
Ryle senior running back and Mr. Kentucky Football candidate Jacob Chisholm made his mark, exploding for five touchdowns and 265 rushing yards in Ryle’s 49-27 victory over Highlands on Friday night at Highlands.
Chisholm finished with 379 all-purpose yards — Highlands couldn’t find an answer to stopping the Raiders’ running back, as Chisholm led the Raiders to their second straight win over the Bluebirds.
Jake Chisholm (file photo)
The first drive of the game summarized much of the game for Chisholm, as he capped off the six play, 65 yard drive with 43 yards of his own and a 25-yard touchdown run.
The Bluebirds managed to tie the game back up at 7-7, courtesy of a senior quarterback Carl Schoellman pass to senior wide receiver Nick Veneman for the 13-yard score.
Ryle’s offense led by Chisholm and first-year quarterback, senior Easton Pilyer, managed to continuously find the answer.
On the ensuing drive, Pilyer rushed for a big 60-yard rush, setting up Ryle at the two-yard line, for the eventual Chisholm score – making it 14-7.
The Raiders tacked on an additional 14 points to stretch their lead to 28-7, just before the half, prior to the Bluebirds answer making it a 28-14 game at halftime.
Much similar to the first half, Highlands failed to contain Chisholm who ensued to break off big runs and score touchdowns on his career-night.
Midway through the third quarter Highlands had a chance to close the gap, with the score at 35-20. The Bluebirds caused Pilyer to throw a crucial interception to the Bluebirds’ junior cornerback Bailey Armstrong, who returned the interception over 40 yards, to Ryle’s 22-yard line. Highlands failed to capitalize, however, as Schoellman threw an interception in the end zone to Ryle junior cornerback Caden Mogge.
The play after Schoellman’s interception — a 63-yard run for Chisholm. The series caused a critical momentum swing in the Raiders’ favor.
Chisholm tackled by Highlands defenders
After the scoring drive, Ryle managed to prevent Highlands from closing the gap, as they cruised to their 49-27 win.
Pilyer finished 12-17 passing for 118 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, tacking on 136 rush yards as well in the versatile Raiders rush attack.
“I think [Pilyer] did a great job,” Chisholm said. “You can overlook the interceptions, obviously he’s a new quarterback, he’s going to have mistakes, but I think he did an overall fantastic job. Running the ball, throwing the ball, I thought he had great decision making. He did a fantastic job, especially with it being his third game at quarterback, him playing wide receiver last year, moving back to quarterback.”
Schoellman finished 33-48 for 342 yards, four touchdowns and an interception for the Bluebirds, as they couldn’t muster much running the ball, Schoellman was forced to try to beat the Raiders with his arm.
The Raiders are now 3-0 since their week one loss to Covington Catholic, a loss which Chisholm believes lit a fire in them.
“We just used that first loss as motivation,” Chisholm said. “We don’t want to get beat like that anymore. We want to be the team beating teams like that. We use it as motivation and it’s worked so far.”
Ryle — 14 14 14 7
Highlands — 7 7 6 7
Ryle – Chisholm 25 run (Molique kick)
HH – Wogan 13 pass from Schoellman (Bowman kick)
Ryle – Chisholm 2 run (Molique kick)
Ryle – Clarkson 13 pass from Pilyer (Molique kick)
HH – Veneman 9 pass from Schoellman (Bowman kick)
HH – Wogan 20 pass from Schoellman (kick failed)
Ryle – Chisholm 15 run (Molique kick)
Ryle – England 3 run (Molique kick)
HH – Veneman 9 pass from Schoellman (Bowman kick)
Ryle – Chisholm 7 run (Molique kick)
Records: Ryle 3-1; Highlands 2-2.
Chisholm and Pilyer (Ryle QB #7) lined up in the backfield.
