Middle School Panthers roll over Vikings

The Lewis County Middle School Panther football team opened their season at home on Thursday, August 20, 2020 against the Community Vikings of Unionville at A.B. Sisco Athletic Field.

In the first quarter, the Panther defense stifled the Viking offense, a common theme for the evening, and forced a turnover on downs on the opening possession.

On the first offensive possession of the game, the Panther offense marched down the field with a scoring drive capped off by a Micah Godfrey 16-yard touchdown run. After a Nathaniel Caamal 2-point conversion run, the Panthers led 8-0, a lead that would remain through the end of the opening quarter.

The Panther defense continued to keep the Vikings at bay in the second, and with only 12 seconds on the clock in the half, Drew Ray ran in from the 6 for another Panther touchdown. Following a 2-point conversion run by Godfrey, the Panthers had a 16-0 lead heading into the half.

Twenty-four seconds into the second half, the Panthers saw Godfrey break free for a 54-yard touchdown run, his second touchdown of the game. Reggie Wade found the end zone for the 2-point conversion, stretching the lead to 24-0.

On the final play of the third quarter, it was Reggie Wade who sprinted through the Viking defense for a 60-yard touchdown run as the horn sounded. With a Godfrey 2-point conversion, the Panthers' lead grew to 32-0. The score would hold at 32-0 through the fourth quarter, and the Panthers secured their first win of the season.

Micah Godfrey paced the Panther offense on the ground with 117 yards on 7 carries and 2 touchdowns, Reggie Wade had 82 yards on 2 carries and a touchdown, Nathaniel Caamal had 7 carries for 27 yards, and Drew Ray had 3 carries for 11 yards.

On defense, the Panthers limited the Vikings to 148 yards of total offense in the shutout. Drew Ray was in on 10 tackles with 8 solo. Nick Barnes 7 tackles, Micah Godfrey 7 tackles, Braylon Bean 6 tackles, Reggie Wade 4 tackles and one for a loss, Hunter King 3 tackles, Corbyn Harris 2 tackles, Samuel Moore, Zeke Weibe, D.J. Stewart, Evan Mathis, Hunter Hicks, Levi Graham, and Trace Lindsey each had a tackle.

Lewis County Panther football cheerleaders for the 2020 season are Kabry Adkins, Natalie Bailey, Bendi Barnes, Emmy Carroll, Isabella Dicus, Mackenzie Dunbar, Riley Harper, Aubrey Kellogg, Abree Lowery, Jayden Moore, Gabii Ortiz, Aryn Shepherd, Klayr Shepherd, McKinley Sullivan, Taya Tiller and Ryley Wall.

The Panthers traveled to Dickson to take on Burns Middle School on Tuesday, August 25, the first of two games of the week.