Panthers take Riverside in season opener

Special thanks to:
Barry Churchwell for Stats and Donald Dunn for Photos

The Lewis County High School Panther football team opened their season on the road on Friday, August 21, 2020, traveling to Decatur County-Riverside.

The first quarter of the game was a defensive struggle between the two teams of Panthers, as neither offense was able to put any points on the board. But, with only 22 seconds into the second quarter, the Riverside Panthers struck first as Weston Ward connected with Trent Smith for a 32-yard touchdown pass to break the scoreless tie. After a successful Chase Brock point, the Riverside Panthers led the Lewis County Panthers 7-0.

The teams played the remainder of the first half evenly and with no further scoring. At the half, it was the host Riverside Panthers clinging to a 7-0 lead.

The third quarter looked much like the first quarter as both teams held defensively and allowed no points, and Lewis County went into the final twelve minutes of play trailing by 7.

The LCHS Panthers were able to finally break into the end zone with four minutes thirty-three seconds remaining on the clock as quarterback Bryson James found Robert Young for a 28-yard touchdown pass to make the score 7-6. The Panthers, trailing by one, decided to go for two, and it was quarterback James finding Lincoln Brewer for the successful 2-point conversion pass to give Lewis County a 8-7 lead, a lead that would hold until the final buzzer and give the Lewis County Panthers a road victory and a 1-0 start to the 2020 season.

Blake Caroll led the Panther offense on the ground with 111 yards on 19 carries. Ethan McCann had 47 yards on 9 carries and Clydarius Sparkman had 8 carries for 31 yards. Quarterback Bryson James completed 2 of his 5 passes of the night for 44 yards and one touchdown. Robert Young caught both of James' passes for 44 yards and the lone touchdown.

On defense, the Panthers limited the Riverside Panthers to 229 yards of total offense in the game, 143 on the ground and 86 through the air. Kael Feichtinger was in on 16 tackles with 11 solo and one for a loss, Blake Carroll 9 tackles and a key fumble recovery, Sloan Moseley 9 tackles, Ethan McCann 7 tackles and 1 for a loss, Jayden Stewart 7 tackles, Lincoln Brewer 6 tackles and an interception, Robert Young and Ian Carroll 4 tackles, Ethan Fransen and Eli Hankins 2 tackles, and Ayden Dunn, Alex Fall and Tyler Ray each had a tackle.

The Panthers will open their home schedule at Bobby W. Sharp Stadium Thursday, August 27, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. against the Cheatham County Cubs.