new article about ryan

Cols will 'play for Ryan'

By KEVIN PATTON, Gleaner staff

The Henderson County Colonels have dedicated their season to the memory of Ryan Owens, their teammate who died shortly after practice on July 19.

"They want to play their season for Ryan," Henderson County football coach Duffer Duffy said Tuesday afternoon. Shouting his name with every team huddle they break, they honor the lineman and scout team player who would have been a junior this school year. "Before we always broke the huddle with 'state champs.' Now it's 'Owens' every time," Duffy said.

Black stickers with Owens' number '64' have been ordered for the players' helmets.

While the players have been affected by Owens' death, they have worked hard since practice resumed on Monday, July 24, Duffy said. "They have really come together as a team."

Duffy said the tragedy has affected him personally. "I was with Ryan from (the time he collapsed) until me and his dad said good-bye to him (at the hospital). It's something I'll never forget," he said. "It's definitely made me a better person. I've told my players that I love them more in the last two weeks than I did in the last three years. That's something I don't usually do until the end of the season."

The Henderson County school board has hired Owensboro attorney Bill Wilson to conduct an investigation into Owens' death. The investigation is ongoing.

The autopsy performed the day after Owens' death was inconclusive as to the cause of death, pending additional studies. Those results are expected to be returned within 1-to-3 weeks.

That could be around the time of the team's first game Aug. 18 at Castle. Last Saturday, Henderson County played its only scrimmage of the preseason at Elizabethtown. The Colonels scored the only touchdown of the scrimmage, though Elizabethtown did score when the junior varsity squads were on the field.

"The defense played pretty well, but our defense is ahead of our offense at this point," said Duffy, who does return six defensive starters from last year's 9-2 team.

After opening the season at Castle, the Colonels play the first of their five home games on Aug. 25 against Evansville North in the annual Hall of Fame Game.