By Allen Hamrick
This past Friday it was redemption night for the Panthers. After getting whipped like scrambled eggs on their season opener against Midland Trail, the Panthers were ready to belly up to some bison burger. With both teams notching losses in their first outing, the Panthers were not about to go to the bus empty handed. Fans could see at the onset of the game that the Panthers were not about to lay down their arms and surrender. It was a great game and was an offensive and defensive feeding frenzy for the Panthers as they regained their butt kicking status on the field. With the threat of severe weather on the horizon, the Panthers went to work on the air game and the running game.
New QB Cooper Collins got his game on, sights set and started connecting with his receivers. The Panther offense moved the ball at will and seemed to score when they felt like it as Brody Scarbro was busting Bison defense as he racked up the yards. Panther defense was all over the field hitting like raging bulls and picking apart the Bison passing game. Blake Coleman and Joel Elliot led the defense and were skinning buffalo as the defense dominated the field holding the Bison team to just 14 points. Meanwhile, the offense, simply put, pounded its way through the Bison line and scored a whopping 44 points. Mother Nature decided to make an appearance and sent fans scrambling, but after a delay, the game continued. The final score was Panthers 44, Buffalo 14.
There isn’t much to be said about this game other than it was a complete thumping at the hands of the Panthers. By the end of the game, Buffalo was flying the surrender flag while the Panthers racked their first win of the season. The Panthers will once again meet Roane County on their turf this Friday night; let’s hope that this win will carry into next week as the Raiders will be a tough match for sure. In the game it was Cooper Collins going 18-23 for 261 yards with two TDs and one interception. Brody Scarbro carried 21 times for 150 yards and two TDs and caught three for 51 yards and a TD. Jakoby Nichols had four rushes for 73 yards as well as six catches for 96 yards and one TD. On defense it was Jaden Morris with four tackles, three of those for a loss, and two sacks. Landon Delwarte had eight tackles and half sack. Kicker Jaxon Brown was 5-5 on extra point duty and was 1-2 on field goals.
