By Allen Hamrick
The Panthers have proven themselves once again as a team that you should never give up on. The Roane County High School Raiders stepped on Panther real estate Friday night to destroy the Panthers, but they were mistaken. Whoever told them it would be an easy task needs to be committed. It was probably one of the best games ever played on Bradley Field, and there have been some great ones. The game had drama and grit, and the ticket price was well worth it. This football game between these two teams has always been a strong rivalry, and this game would do nothing less than prove it. Both teams came into the game without a loss with Roane ranked first and Clay ranked fourth. It was game time, and time for the Panthers to dig in and get dirty.
The Raiders came out swinging and putting yards in the books, charging straight through the Panther defense and scoring an early seven points on the boards. The Panthers, unscathed, turned around and took the ball down the field as if the Raiders’ defense was ghosts. Noah Collins tossed his first TD of the game connecting with Joel Elliot to get the Panthers on the board; unfortunately, the extra point attempt was blocked and the score stood at 6-7. That was it for the 1st quarter as both defenses stepped up.
The 2nd quarter began with a Panther push to the end zone, and it didn’t take long as once again Collins connected with Elliot down the side line with a thread throw right in the bread basket, and Elliot took it to the house. The Panthers took the lead as the Raider fans scraped their jaws off the bleachers. The Raiders, not being ones to sit back and watch the show, exploited the Panther defense and took back the lead scoring two TDs but missed the extra points, making the score 12-19 Raiders.
The Panthers had some tricks up their sleeve and pulled off one of the sweetest reversals I’ve ever seen. Everybody on the field and in the stands was looking south and the play went north. Bryson Peters was half way down the field heading to the house before they knew it happened; it was beautiful. The Panther defense dug in and forced the Raiders to punt, and that was their mistake. It didn’t take long for Collins to thread the needle to Jakoby Nichols who spun to the inside leaving the Raider defenders flat footed. He went in to score yet another TD before the half ended with the Panthers on top by the score of 26-19. After the halftime festivities, it was back to football and fans knew that the Raider locker room at the half wasn’t pretty. They came out and stopped any advance by the Panthers offense while scoring 14 more points, making the score 26-33 at the end of the 3rd.
In the past, we have seen teams just give up at this point, but not this year and not this Panther team. It was all out football at its best with both defenses doing everything they could to ensure a win. The Panthers got the game within one point with the score at 46-47, and with just seconds on the board, the Panther defense held their ground but a football placement by the ref gave the Raiders the first down and took away any chance for the Panthers to score again as time ran out. Some say they didn’t get the 1st down, others say yeah they did – nobody will ever know for sure.
When it is all said and done, the Panthers and the Raiders gave the fans one whale of a football game and a person can blame whoever or whatever for the loss, but it would do nothing but take away from a great game.
In the end it was the Raiders over the Panthers with a final score of 47-46. On offense, Noah Collins was 16/33 for 353 yards, five TD’s and one interception. He also had 167 yards rushing with one TD. Joel Elliot had a big game catching five passes for 172 yards and three TD’s. Jakoby Nichols was also in the hunt with six catches for 130 yards and two TD’s. Bryson Peters had the sweet kickoff return for 85 yards. Blake Coleman was king on defense with 11 solo tackles and six assists. Noah Collins had nine tackles followed by Seth Robinson with seven. The Panthers will host Sissonville next Friday during their homecoming game, and it should be another good one.
