Panthers enter playoffs

Jason Fite/Sports Writer

Barry Churchwell/Stats

Hulon Dunn/Photos

The Lewis County High School Panthers finished off their regular season on the road with a big region matchup against the Waverly Tigers on Friday night, October 27 with playoff positioning in the balance

Lewis County wasted little time getting their offense rolling after a big defensive stand on Waverly's first possession. The Panthers struck first when Micah Godfrey sprinted 37 yards on the team's opening drive and secured an early 6-0 lead.

Waverly would answer on the final play of the first quarter on a 12-yard touchdown pass and a successful PAT to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead after one period.

The Panthers would retake the lead with just over three minutes remaining in the first half when Brycen McDonald found Fletch Kelsey on a 29-yard touchdown pass to put the Panthers in front 12-7.

McDonald and Kelsey would hook up again late in the half on a big 62-yard touchdown pass and Lewis County would make it an 18-7 game as the teams went to the locker room at halftime.

The Panthers would add to their lead in the third when Eli Carroll scored on a 2-yard dive and McDonald hit Dakota Hull for the two-point conversion to give Lewis County a 26-7 advantage.

The fourth quarter brought a flurry of scoring, starting with a 6-yard touchdown run from Drew Ray to pull the Panthers out to a 32-7 lead.

Waverly would respond on their next possession, scoring on a 2-yard run to cut the score to 32-13.

The Panthers would dominate the final eight and a half minutes, scoring on a 49-yard run by Ray and a 35-yard run by Chaz Sparkman to cruise to a big 48-13 win.

Brycen McDonald led the Panther attack completing 10 of 16 passes for 211 yards and 2 touchdowns. Chaz Sparkman had 6 receptions for 108 yards and Fletch Kelsey had 4 receptions for 103 yards and 2 touchdowns. Drew Ray had 101 yards on 14 carries with 2 touchdowns, Micah Godfrey had 6 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown, Chaz Sparkman had 3 attempts for 47 yards and a touchdown, Dominic Seiber 3 carries for 10 yards, Nathanial Caamal 1 carry for 10 yards, and Eli Carroll 1 carry for 2 yards and a touchdown.

Eli Carroll had a big night for the Panther defense tallying 11 tackles, 2 for loss, 2 sacks, and a blocked punt, Drew Ray had 10 tackles, 1 for loss, a sack, and an interception, Noah Alkire had 8 tackles with 1 for loss, Chaz Sparkman 7 tackles, Fletch Kelsey, Kobe Feichtinger, and Ethan Ray 5 tackles each, Dominic Seiber and Kade Carroll each had 4 tackles and a sack, Nathanial Caamal had 4 tackles and an interception, Jaylen Murphy and Tim Brown 4 tackles each, Corbyn Harris and Braylon Bean 3 tackles each, Fletch Kelsey 2 tackles, Colby Cates 1 tackle and a sack, and Aiden Wise, Samuel Moore, Nate James, and Brennan Davis 1 tackle each.

With the win and a win by Loretto, the Panthers secured the #2 slot in the region for the TSSAA Playoffs. The Panthers will host the #3 seed from Region 6-AA the Milan Bulldogs on Friday night, November 3 at Bobby W. Sharp Stadium.