RACELAND — Fittingly, a game with all kinds of hoopla produced big plays to match.

Russell’s David Bailey made several of them, leading the Red Devils past Raceland 35-14 Friday night in the Rail Cities Bowl — the first football meeting between the schools in 33 years.

A throng of fans turned out for the occasion, filling the stands and circling the track at Ram Stadium.

Raceland struck for two first-half touchdowns, including John Scott Carver’s 65-yard touchdown run. But Russell quickly answered each Raceland score and pulled away by outscoring the Rams 21-0 in the second half.

“It was a great atmosphere,’’ said Bailey, who was named Russell’s Most Valuable Player after making a sensational kickoff return for a touchdown and also catching four passes for 109 yards. “This was a big thing because the schools are so close together. I know a lot of the Raceland kids.’’

Fans from both sides will be talking about Bailey’s 97-yard kickoff return for years to come.

After Raceland put together a 79-yard scoring drive on the opening possession, Bailey took the kickoff and burst into the open. His momentum was stopped by a pile of players at Raceland’s 27-yard line, but Bailey rolled over the top and continued to the end zone.

The 5-foot-11 junior credited teammate Adam Foster for the amazing play.

“I was just running as hard as I could,’’ Bailey said. “Foster was leading the blocking. A guy hit me and I went over some people and started to fall. Adam sort of bench pressed me back up. I owe that touchdown to him.’’

Russell coach Ivan McGlone was caught off guard as much as anybody else.

“I still don’t know what happened,’’ McGlone said. “I thought he fumbled and we picked it up. Bailey had a nice game tonight.’’

After the teams battled to a 14-14 halftime tie, Bailey made big receptions to set up touchdowns on Russell’s first two possessions of the second half.

First, he hauled in a short pass from quarterback Tyler Jones, turned and set sail for a 57-yard gain before being brought down at the Rams’ 5. Drew Abrams’ 3-yard TD run gave the Red Devils their first lead and Jason Dolly’s extra point made it 21-14.

On Russell’s next series, Bailey leaped with a defender and made an acrobatic catch of a tipped pass for 30 yards to the Rams’ 1.

“I saw the ball go up, then kind of tipped it back to myself and clamped my hands around it,’’ Bailey said.

Abrams carried for the final yard behind the right side of his offensive line.

Bailey’s big performance atoned for his tough night the previous week in Russell’s overtime win against Mason County.

"His playing time had shrunk,’’ McGlone said. “Tonight he came ready to play. Sometimes you get their attention.’’

The Red Devils increased their lead to 35-14 as Jones scored on a 1-yard sneak with 7:59 remaining. It came after Will Rice recovered a Raceland fumble, the first of three Rams’ turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we rose to the occasion tonight,’’ McGlone said. “Our defense, other than their long run, did a pretty good job.’’

Carver’s tackle-breaking, 65-yard run put Raceland up 14-7 in the second quarter. But on Russell’s next play from scrimmage, Adam Bates burst up the middle for a 73-yard TD.

“A couple of times it looked like we had the momentum going our way, but it lasted about two seconds,’’ said Raceland coach Randy Vanderhoof.

The Rams outgained Russell 191-158 in the first half, but managed only 67 yards in the second half.

“Russell is a very big football team,’’ Vanderhoof said. “Sometimes that size will wear on you and that may have been the difference.’’

Bates led Red Devil rushers with 103 yards, while Jones had 135 through the air.

With the victory, Russell completed its regular season with a 9-1 record. The Red Devils have an open date next Friday before beginning the playoffs.

Raceland (6-3) finishes its schedule against West Carter before going up against Fairview in a first-round playoff game.

“Hopefully our fans will come back out and support us because that game on Nov. 9 is bigger than this one,’’ Vanderhoof said. “We didn’t win tonight, but we made a lot of good plays on both sides of the ball.’’

Carver, who gained 107 yards on 12 carries, received a game MVP award for Raceland.

ROCKY STANLEY can be reached at rstanley@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2671.