By Zane Miller

After defeating the Oceanside Bombers 80-42 in their second game of the AF1 season, the Kentucky Barrels also emerged victorious in San Diego, winning 63-43 on Sunday night thanks in large part to a quartet of rushing touchdowns from quarterback Darryl Overstreet Jr.

Defensive back Joe Powell was a force to be reckoned with on the other side of the ball for the Barrels, capturing three interceptions as the team improved to 5-1 on the year.

Although the Bombers scored the game’s opening touchdown on a long touchdown run by quarterback Rudy Johnson, this would be the only time they would see the lead as Kentucky tied it up before the end of the first quarter, with Overstreet finding wide receiver Dezmon Epps for a 34-yard touchdown connection.

Overstreet’s first rushing TD of the contest gave Kentucky the lead early in the second quarter, though Oceanside kept pace with a drive of their own to the end zone. This set into motion a back-and-forth exchange throughout the second quarter, with the Barrels looking to pull away but the Bombers doing just enough to stay in contention. After the Barrels took a two-possession lead with around a minute to go in the first half, a touchdown pass from Johnson to receiver Vincent Strange Jr. and ensuing deuce by kicker Brent Reis cut their lead to one point just before halftime.

The second half would see the Barrels defense truly take over. After a third quarter which saw Epps get his second touchdown grab of the evening, the team went into the fourth holding a one-possession advantage. Two minutes into the quarter, however, Overstreet would give the Barrels some breathing room with a QB sneak into the end zone.

As was typical in the game, the Bombers responded soon after with another scoring drive, this time with Lonnie Bickham III claiming his first career AF1 touchdown, but the Barrels would hold down the fort from there. Overstreet found wide receiver Shiloh Flanagan for his second score of the game, while the defense kept Oceanside from sniffing the end zone. After Overstreet ran it in once more for good measure, the Barrels would fly home happy with a 63-43 victory in the books.

In addition to his four rushing touchdowns, Overstreet had five touchdown passes for 278 yards, a nice follow-up to his seven-touchdown, 269 passing yard effort against the Beaumont Renegades a week earlier. Johnson contributed three touchdowns with 175 yards through the air, but this came along with four interceptions to none by Overstreet.

Wide receiver Darius Prince amassed 151 yards and a touchdown on six catches for the Barrels, while Epps, who had been benched for the game against the Renegades, bounced back big time with a team-leading eight catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns. Flanagan had a solid game as well, adding 50 receiving yards on five catches to go along with his touchdown grabs. Jovohn Tucker led the Bombers receiving corps with two touchdowns and 85 receiving yards on six catches, with Strange in tow after getting 67 yards and a touchdown on five receptions.

On defense, Powell’s hat trick of picks was joined by three tackles as well, with defensive back Mike Lee earning a team-best five tackles as Oceanside’s Kyrin Beachem and Jordan Washington picked up seven tackles apiece in the loss.

Scoring summary

1Q 13:00 OCE #7 R. Johnson 17-yd TD run (PAT good)- Bombers 7-0

1Q 7:20 KEN #3 D. Epps 34-yd TD pass from #7 D. Overstreet Jr. (PAT good)- Tied 7-7

2Q 13:10 KEN #7 D. Overstreet Jr. 9-yd TD run (2-pt drop kick good)- Barrels 15-7

2Q 12:30 OCE #0 T. Brooks 19-yd TD pass from #7 R. Johnson (PAT good)- Barrels 15-14

2Q 10:20 KEN #7 D. Overstreet Jr. 1-yd TD run (2-pt drop kick good)- Barrels 23-14

2Q 9:30 OCE #3 J. Tucker 28-yd TD pass from #7 R. Johnson (drop kick no good)- Barrels 23-20

2Q 7:00 KEN #6 D. Prince 39-yd TD pass from #7 D. Overstreet Jr. (2-pt drop kick)- Barrels 31-20

2Q 5:05 OCE #3 J. Tucker 10-yd TD pass from #7 R. Johnson (PAT good)- Barrels 31-27

2Q 1:00 KEN #9 S. Flanagan 13-yd TD pass from #7 D. Overstreet Jr. (drop kick no good)- Barrels 37-27

2Q 0:11 OCE #8 V. Strange Jr. 19-yd TD pass from #7 R. Johnson (PAT good)- Barrels 37-34

2Q 0:11 OCE #13 B. Reis deuce- Barrels 37-36

3Q 12:30 KEN #3 D. Epps 14-yd TD pass from #7 D. Overstreet Jr. (PAT good)- Barrels 44-36

4Q 13:00 KEN #7 D. Overstreet Jr. 1-yd TD run (PAT good)- Barrels 51-36

4Q 10:30 OCE #17 L. Bickham III 1-yd TD run (PAT good)- Barrels 51-43

4Q 6:00 KEN #9 S. Flanagan 13-yd TD pass from #7 D. Overstreet Jr. (PAT no good)- Barrels 57-43

4Q 0:10 KEN #7 D. Overstreet Jr. 22-yd TD run (PAT no good)- Barrels 63-43

Final Score: Barrels 63, Bombers 43