By Jason Fite

Sports writer

The Lewis County Middle School Panthers faced off with the Hardin County Middle School Tigers on Thursday, September 22nd.

With a large crowd supporting the Panthers on Eighth Grade night at LCMS, the Panther offense was inspired and found the endzone early on in the opening quarter as Kobe Feichtinger scrambled and found the endzone on a 16-yard touchdown run. After a failed conversion the Panthers held a 6-0 lead.

The Panther defense would play tough throughout the first quarter, limiting opportunities for the visitors and Lewis County held a 6-0 lead at the end of the first.

Lewis County would get on the board again in the second quarter, another big run from Feichtinger as he scampered 31 yards to paydirt, and the two-point run by D.J. Stewart gave the Panthers a 14-0 lead.

Late in the first half, Hardin County struck on a 66-yard touchdown pass but failed on the conversion and the score was 14-6 at the half.

Both defenses toughened up in the third quarter as the only score in the period was another run from Kobe Feichtinger that saw him zig-zag through defenders on a 52-yard touchdown run and failed conversion made it 20-6.

The Panther defense would get in on the scoring in the fourth as Kobe Feichtinger picked off a Hardin County pass and returned it for his fourth TD of the game, this time a 64-yard pick-six that ended the scoring as the Panthers won 26-6.

Kobe Feichtinger led the Panthers with 6 carries for 121 yards and 3 touchdowns, D.J. Stewart 8 carries for 46 yards, Gavin Coker 4 carries for 17 yards, Shawn Lewis 1 carry for 6 yards, and Brodie Under 2 carries for 5 yards. Feichtinger was 6 for 10 passing for 81 yards. Dakota Hull had 3 receptions for 50 yards, Shawn Lewis 2 reception for 25 yards, and Gavin Coker 1 reception for 6 yards.

D.J. Stewart had 9 tackles for the Panther defense, Gavin Coker 7 tackles and a fumble recovery, Kaden pace 4 tackles and a sack, Dakota Hull 4 tackles, Kobe Feichtinger 1 tackle and an interception return for a touchdown, Phenix McDonald, Shawn Lewis, Aiden Johnston, Cord’e Pope, and Colby Cates 1 tackle each, and Junior Nelson an interception.

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The Lewis County Middle School Panthers ended their 2022 football campaign with a win at home on September 22nd over the Hardin County Middle School Tigers. With the win the Panthers ended the season with 3 wins and 4 losses. The Panthers opened the season with a win against Community Middle, and followed with losses to Hickman County Middle, Dickson Middle, and Chester County Middle. They picked up a win against Richland Middle before losing to E.O. Coffman and a season-ending win against Hardin County.

Kobe Feichtinger led the Panthers in rushing for the season with 336 yards on 36 carries and 7 touchdowns, D.J. Stewart had 56 carries for 330 yards and 3 touchdowns, Gavin Coker 30 carries for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns, Shawn Lewis 7 carries for 59 yards and a touchdown, Brodie Unger 4 carries for 24 yards, and Anthony Garcia 1 carry for 5 yards.

Kobe Feichtinger completed 14 of 33 passes for 198 yards with 4 interceptions on the season, D.J. Stewart was 4-24 passing for 11 yards with 3 interceptions.

Dakota Hull caught 8 passes for 112 yards on the season, Shawn Lewis had 4 catches for 77 yards, Gavin Coker 4 receptions for 18 yards, Kobe Feichtinger 2 receptions for 0 yards, and Phenix McDonald 1 catch for 9 yards.

Defensively, Gavin Coker led the Panthers with 49 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery, D.J. Stewart had 39 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and an interception, Kaden Pace 26 tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery, Dakota Hull 13 tackles, Kobe Feichtinger 12 tackles and an interception return for a touchdown, Colby Cates 10 tackles and 2 sacks, Clay Jackson 10 tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery, Brodie Unger 10 tackles and a forced fumble, Shawn Lewis 10 tackles, Phenix McDonald 9 tackles, Cord’e Pope 9 tackles and an interception, Brett Odom 8 tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery, Zeke Wiebe 6 tackles, Carter Stewart 5 tackles, Blake Welch 5 tackles, Levi Graham 3 tackles, Henry Sharp 2 tackles, Junior Nelson 2 tackles and an interception, Aiden Johnston 1 tackle, Noah Casteel 1 tackle, Michael Henkel 1 tackle, Riley Stephens 1 tackle, and Jonathan Adams 1 tackle.