The Lewis County Middle School Panther football team traveled to Lawrenceburg for a Tuesday night, September 15 match-up against E.O. Coffman Middle School at Lawrence County High School.

The Coffman Panthers wasted no time getting a lead, as they returned the opening kickoff 80 yards to the endzone and converted the 2-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead 13 seconds into the game.

The Panther offense moved the ball on its first possession into Coffman territory, but stalled out and were forced to punt. Coffman moved the ball from deep in their own territory and converted on key third down conversions, but it was a Micah Godfrey interception that kept Coffman from the end zone. Coffman would strike again early in the second quarter with a 10-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion and again later in the period with a 1-yard touchdown dive and a conversion run to take a 24-0 lead into halftime.

The Panthers failed to put together any solid offensive possessions after the half, despite a 37-yard completion from Kolt Skelton to Braylon Bean that set up the Panthers inside the Coffman ten, but failed to find the endzone. Coffman would add one final scoring drive in the third quarter, capped off by a 22-yard touchdown pass and conversion run to give the home team a 32-0 lead, a score that held to the final.

Nathaniel Caamal had 32 yards rushing on 13 carries for the Panthers. Jalen Smith had 16 yards on 3 carries, Micah Godfrey 6 carries for 13 yards, and Reggie Wade had 12 yards on 8 carries. Quarterback Kolt Skelton was 1-3 for 37 yards. One bright spot for the Panther defense was a red-zone interception by Sam Moore that ended a Coffman scoring threat.

The Panthers had a quick turnaround with Homecoming at LCMS on Thursday night, September 17 against Camden at the A.B. Sisco Athletic Field.

A defensive struggle from the opening kickoff, the Panthers and Lions exchanged punts early on before the Panthers were able to mount a scoring drive late in the opening quarter when Reggie Wade found room outside and scored on a 9-yard run. The Panthers failed on the two-point conversion run and led 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was another defensive stalemate until the Lions got on the board with just under four minutes to play in the half, a 2-yard touchdown run, but they also failed to convert on the conversion run and the game was tied 6-6 at the half.

The Lions struck again in the third quarter, this time through the air, with a 21-yard touchdown strike followed by a successful conversion run to make the score 14-6. The Panthers made a run late in the fourth quarter, but a stand on fourth down with under two minutes to play sealed the fate of the Panthers as Camden held on to a 14-6 victory.

Nathaniel Caamal led the Panther ground game with 32 yards on 9 carries, Reggie Wade added 31 yards on 7 carries, Jalen Smith had 21 yards on 6 carries. Kolt Skelton was 0-1 on the night passing.

Defensively, Drew Ray was in on 9 tackles including one for a loss, Nick Barnes 8 tackles and two for a loss, Hunter Hicks and Sam Moore 6 tackles each, Noah Alkire 4 tackles, Jalen Smith, Reggie Wade, and Braylon Bean 3 tackles each, and Bean added a fumble recovery, Kade Carroll 2 tackles, Nathaniel Caamal, Evan Mathis, and Corbin Harris each had a tackle.

The Panthers will be back in action at home on tonight, Thursday, September 24, hosting Hardin County at 6 p.m. at the A.B. Sisco Athletic Field.