Panther's season ends in 2nd Round

Stats by Barry Churchwell

The Lewis County High School Panthers hosted the Decatur County-Riverside Panthers in the second round of the TSSAA football playoffs and a rematch of the week one matchup that saw Lewis County take an 8-7 win in Parsons.

In a game billed as a defensive struggle, the first half played out in that manner. Lewis County and Riverside each were forced to exchange punts and possession throughout the first 24 minutes of play, with noone able to break through to the endzone or put any points on the board in what was a constant battle of field position through the half.

It wasn't until late in the third quarter that either offense was able to break through, and it was Riverside that put the first points on the board. With 2:25 remaining in the third quarter, it was Riverside's Trent Smith that broke off on a 15-yard run to the endzone, and Chase Brock missed the point after, giving the Riverside Panthers a 6-0 lead heading into the final 12 minutes of regulation.

The Panthers considered to struggle to mount a scoring drive, and midway through the final quarter Riverside struck again. Trent Smith scored on a 2-yard dive into the endzone, and the two-point conversion failed, and Riverside held a 12-0 lead with just over six minutes to play.

Lewis County failed to put together a scoring drive and fell to Riverside 12-0.

Lincoln Brewer led the Panther attack with 82 yards on 13 carries, Blake Carroll 60 yards on 15 carries, Ethan McCann 41 yards on 9 carries, Sloan Moseley 18 yards on 1 carry, and Clydarius Sparkman 5 yards on 1 carry. Quarterback Bryan James was 3 for 7 passing for -3 yards. Blake Carrol caught 2 passes for 1 yard, and Kael Feichtinger had one reception for -4 yards.

In the defensive struggle, Kael Feichtinger led the way with 14 tackles, Lincoln Brewer had 11 tackles and one for loss, Sloan Moseley had 10 tackles, Ethan McCann 9 tackles and one for loss, Austin Hicks 6 tackles, Ian Carroll 5 tackles, Blake Carroll 4 tackles and an interception, Ethan Fransen 4 tackles, Clydarius Sparkman and Jaydon Stewart 3 tackles, Riley Runions and Alex Fall 2 tackles, and Tylan Woodie 1 tackle.

The loss brought the Panther's season to an end in the second round of the playoffs with a record of 11-1.