By Allen Hamrick
The CCHS Panthers travelled to South Harrison to take on the Hawks last Friday night. They went in with all their weapons blazing and absolutely nothing to lose. The Panthers were sitting pretty, ranked 9th in AA while South Harrison was ranked 8th. After using the Indians from Sissonville as a dance floor last week, the Panthers were on a pig buzz. With the grass standing tall enough to cut with a brush hog, the game got underway. Not sure if the hay field type football field had anything to do with the outcome of the game, but it was an oddity. When a kicker can’t see the tee, it’s time to mow the grass.
The game got underway as the Panthers were top fist on the bat and took opening kickoff. It didn’t take but just over two minutes to get the Collins / Peters air show into the end zone to get the Panthers on the board first. After the extra point was kicked by Brown, the score stood at 7-0. The Hawks started a methodical drive down the field with an all out running game. Eleven plays later, the Hawks were in the end zone for their first score. They decided to double down and go for the two point conversion, and they went ahead in the game 8-7. The Panthers got the ball back, and it was Panther time as the Panthers marched down the field on a series of throws and got into the red zone and their Waterloo.
Robinson was handed the ball and was tackled near the two yard line, but the run was negated due to a block in the back penalty. This moved the Panthers back, and they turned the ball over on downs as the Hawk defense dug in. On their next possession, the Hawks handed the ball to Hatfield and he took it to the house on a near 60 yard TD run. The Panther defense couldn’t seem to break the spell that the Hawk offensive line had on them. The Panther defense did a good job much of the time, but the Hawks running backs chewed at least five yards a carry as the Hawks ran the ball nearly 98 percent of the time. The Hawks got the ball back before the half and ran a 15 play drive that netted them another seven points on the board. The first half ended with the score Panthers 7, Hawks 22. The Panthers were called several times for penalties in the first half, and it seemed as though they couldn’t scratch their heads without a flag being thrown. Once the refs had a powwow on the field after a multiple offense calls against the Hawks, the flags seemed to become 50/50.
After the half was over, the Panthers tried an onside kick that was returned by the Hawks. This gave them great field advantage, and after nine plays, the Hawks scored again. Taking the lead of 29-7, the Hawks put a lot of pressure on the Panthers to score due to only having a running game and taking major time off the clock. The Panthers weren’t done yet and scored another TD on a Collins – Ramsey 18 yard pass in the 4th quarter, but it just wasn’t enough. The game was a hard one for the Panthers as they seemingly had a tough time with the all running game of the Hawks. When the game was over, the Panthers lost their second game of the season 15-36. The Panthers needed some of their typical big plays, but they just didn’t materialize. Next week, the Panthers are off and will be back in action on October 11 at Calhoun.
In other football news, the CCMS Mustangs also butted heads with South Harrison this past week and beat them 18-8. The Mustangs will play Braxton at home on October 3 for their homecoming game. Make sure you come out and watch junior royalty at its finest. Go Mustangs!
