Panthers make statement in 61-19 victory over Stratford Elks

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— By Lance Krogh —

The Panthers came out fired up Friday on their home turf for the clash with the Stratford Elks. The stands were packed despite the chilly wet weather.

Cooper Brinkley boomed the opening kickoff back into the endzone and the Elks decided to bring it out, which would prove to be a mistake as Landon Ruiz cut the ball carrier down at the 1-yard line. The Panther defense forced a 3 and out, and after the punt was fair caught by Caden Armes, the Panthers took over on the 33-yard line. After runs by Landen Andrews and Landen Krogh, Broxton Robinson completed a pass to Lukas Purcell and then to Armes to make it 2nd and goal from the 6. Robinson bulldozed his way into the endzone on the next play. Brinkley booted the PAT through the uprights to make the score 7-0 with 8:48 left in the first quarter.

Stratford would respond driving the ball 70 yards in 3:21 scoring on a 27-yard touchdown pass. The PAT sailed wide left to keep the Panthers up 7-6. On the following kickoff Andrews returned it 25 yards but that was wiped out by a penalty pushing the ball back to the 28-yard line. After a couple good runs by Krogh, Robinson connected with Armes down the right side on a 41-yard pass setting the Panthers up on the 7-yard line. Unfortunately, the drive would end with a fumble on the 1-yard line.

The Panthers forced a 3 and out, and after the punt, they were set up on the Stratford 47. Panhandle methodically marched the ball down the field. A pass from Robinson to Tyler Wood set them up with a 2nd and 1 from the 34. On the next play, Robinson took it himself and cut left and outran the Elks to the end zone. The extra point was no good making the score 13-6 at the end of the first quarter.

The Panther defense would hold strong again, forcing a punt to put the explosive Panther offense back on the field. Five plays later, Purcell took the pitch from Robinson and scampered down the sideline for a 50-yard touchdown run. The PAT kick was good by Brinkley making the score 20-6 with 8:44 left in the second quarter.

After a big return by the Elks, they would start their drive at their own 3-yard line and plays later they punched it in. The PAT was good to pull within 7 points at 20-13. This would be the closest the Elks would come as the Panthers kept their foot on the accelerator after that.

Andrews took the ensuing kickoff back 25 yards to the 35-yard line. On the next play, Armes took the screen pass from Robinson and juked his ay for 28 yards. Later in the drive, Robinson would call his own number scoring on a 25-yard touchdown run. Brinkley split the uprights to push their lead to 27-13 with 5:47 left in the second quarter.

The Panther defense forced a punt on the next Elk drive, which went into the end zone for a touchback. The Panthers drove the ball 80 yards in just five plays which included runs by Krogh and Robinson and a reception by Wood and Armes before Andrews sliced through the Elks’ defense for a 43-yard touchdown run. Brinkley was good on the PAT kick extending the lead to 34-13 with 2 minutes left in the half.

The Panthers were not done yet. Ruiz had a huge hit on the following kick off. On the very next play Andrews intercepted the Elk pass and returned it across to the Panther side of the field. Robinson would score on a 21-yard TD run with 11 seconds left in the half. The PAT was no good and the Panthers went into halftime with a 40-13 lead.

Robinson returned the second half kickoff 24 yards to set up the first drive of the 3rd quarter. The Panthers spread the ball around on the ground and in the air and capped it off with a 13-yard circus catch by Armes. The PAT kick was good by Brinkley making it 46-13 with 5:09 remaining in the third quarter.

The Elks would begin their next drive on the 31-yard line. The Elks quarterback, under pressure from Gavan Brookshire and Logan Leisher, forced up a deep pass which was intercepted by Andrews. He would return it 50 yards for the touchdown. Brinkley split the uprights to make the score 54-13 with 4:49 left in the 3rd.

After another Panther defensive stop they took over on the Stratford 30-yard line. The Panthers drove the ball down to the 14-yard line by the end of the third quarter. Purcell would take over the play calling in the 4th quarter and with a Jaxon Downs run, Purcell would punch it in from 2 yards out for the Panthers final score of the game. Brinkley would convert the PAT and the Panthers were up 61-13. Stratford would score on a 38-yard run with 7:23 left in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers took the next drive 60 yards primarily behind runs from Downs and Purcell before going into victory formation. The final score was 61-19.

“It was a good performance by lots of players on Friday and an outstanding team effort,” said Head Coach Dane Ashley. “So many players contributed on both sides of the ball and made big plays in crucial situations. I was proud of the defense as they settled in and Coach Maurer did a great job making some key adjustments. I thought Coach Strickland and the offensive staff were really dialed in with the game plan to attack a very good Stratford defense.”

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offensive Lineman of the Week was Logan Leisher. He graded 93 with one knock down and one pancake. Gavan Brookshire graded at 100 with one pancake, Jacob Herzberg graded at 100 with one knock down and two pancakes, Jack Sinclair graded 94 with one pancake, Carter Rice graded at 93 with one pancake, Grayson George graded at 90, Jaret Moore graded 88 with three pancakes, Jayce Herzberg graded 81 with one pancake and Diego Montoya graded 76.

Offensive Skill Player of the Week was Broxton Robinson. He went 14 for 16 passing for 196 yards and one touchdown and racked up 178 yards on the ground on 21 carries and had four touchdowns. Purcell had 98 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns, Krogh had 61 yards on 12 carries, Andrews had 47 yards on three carries, and Downs had 21 yards on five carries. Receiving Armes had 122 yards on seven catches, Wood had 41 yards on three catches, Purcell had 32 yards on three catches, and Andrews had five yards on one catch.

Defensive Lineman of the Week was Jacob Herzberg. He had four solo tackles and five assists, one tackle for loss

(TFL) and one sack. Defensive Skill Player of the Week was Landen Andrews. He had one assisted tackle and two interceptions with one returned for a TD. Robinson had five solos, five assisted tackles, and one sack. Dallas Pennington had four solos, three assisted, one TFL and one skill team (ST) tackle. Cooper Brinkley had three solos, two assisted, and two ST tackles. Gavan Brookshire had two solos and six assisted tackles. Samuel Weinheimer had one solo, one assisted and two ST tackles. Armes had three solo tackles and one TFL. Jack Sinclair had two solos and two assisted tackles. Jaxon Downs had two assisted and two ST tackles. Purcell had two solos and one assisted tackle. Logan Leisher had two solo tackles. Jaret Moore had two assisted tackles. Landon Ruiz had two ST tackles. Krogh had one ST tackle. Cooper Treadwell had one ST tackle. Jayce Herzberg had one assisted tackle.

The Panthers travel to Dalhart this Friday to face the Dalhart Wolves. Game time is 7 p.m.

 

 

Scores by Quarters

1st Quarter: Panhandle 12; Stratford 6

2nd Quarter: Panhandle 27; Stratford 7

3rd Quarter: Panhandle 14; Stratford 0

4th Quarter: Panhandle 7; Stratford 6

Final Score: Panhandle 61; Stratford 19

Statistics

First Downs: Panhandle 22; Stratford 8

Yards Rushing: Panhandle 405; Stratford 102

Yards Passing: Panhandle 200; Stratford 132

Total Yards: Panhandle 605; Stratford 234

Passing C-A-I: Panhandle 14-16-0; Stratford 8-27-4

Fumbles-Lost: Panhandle 1-0; Stratford 1-1