Panthers open season with thrilling 28-22 victory

The Lewis County High School Panthers opened their 2022 football season at home against the Community Vikings on Friday, August 19th.

Early in the opening quarter Friday night, the Viking offense used a big 47-yard pass and catch to set up a score on their opening possession and two-point conversion gave them an 8-0 lead three and a half minutes into the first quarter.

The Panthers responded on their first possession as Brycen McDonald found Bentley Kelsey for a 15-yard scoring strike, but Timothy Brown's point after fell no good and the Panthers trailed 8-6 at the end of the first quarter.

After the two teams exchanged punts on consecutive possessions, the Vikings gambled on fourth and long in their own territory and it paid off with a 66-yard touchdown reception that extended their lead to 14-6 with a missed conversion.

The Panthers found an answer less than a minute later as McDonald hit Dyer Barnes for a 40-yard touchdown pass and tied the game with a two-point conversion pass from McDonald to Chaz Sparkman to tie the game at 14.

On the Vikings next possession, they again gambled on fourth down and again came up with a big play, this time a 75-yard touchdown pass, and a successful two-point conversion gave the visitors a 22-14 lead as the teams went in at the half.

With the lead in the third quarter, the Vikings milked off over six minutes on a drive that took them inside the Panther 10. But the Panther defense answered the bell forcing a turnover on downs.

After a scoreless third quarter the Panthers mounted a drive and found paydirt once more, this time as McDonald pushed his way into the endzone behind the Panther offensive line for a score. But the conversion run failed, and the Panthers trailed by 2 at 22-20 with just under ten minutes to play in regulation.

The Panthers would regain possession minutes later and McDonald would find Barnes again on a 21-yard touchdown pass and Sparkman would add the two-point conversion run to stake the Panthers to a 28-22 lead at the midway point in the fourth quarter.

On what would be their final possession of the game, the Vikings moved inside the Panther 30-yard line but were stopped, and the Panther offense took the field and converted on a fourth-down play to be able to run out the clock and seal the season-opening victory 28-22 over Community.

Brycen McDonald led the Panther offense with 209 yards passing on 12 of 25 attempts while connecting for 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Kai Bosque had 8 carries for 37 yards, Chaz Sparkman 4 carries for 33 yards, Micah Godfrey 7 carries for 26 yards, and Brycen McDonald scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run. Dyer Barnes caught 6 passes for 150 yards, Bentley Kelsey 4 receptions for 39 yards, Kai Bosque 1 reception for 14 yards, and Chaz Sparkman 1 catch for 6 yards.

Ethan Ray had 8 tackles for the Panther defense, Lane Barnes and Chaz Sparkman 7 tackles each, Bentley Kelsey 6 tackles, Nathaniel Caamal and Eli Carroll 5 tackles each, Dominic Seiber 4 tackles, Dyer Barnes and Malachi Bruce 3 tackles each, Samuel Moore, Nathan Hamblin, Kai Bosque and Timothy Brown 2 tackles each, Riley Ray a tackle for loss and 2 sacks, Kade Carroll a tackle and a sack, and Brennan Davis a sack.

The Panthers are on the road Friday night, August 26th as they travel to face the defending Region 5-1A champion Fayetteville Tigers.