LCHS Panthers win Region Championship against Riverside

By Jason Fite/Sports writer

Photos/Pete Noblin

Stats/Barry Churchwell

The Region 6-AA Championship was on the line Friday night, October 28th at Bobby W. Sharp field as the Lewis County Panthers squared off with the Decatur County-Riverside Panthers. Both teams came in with identical 8-1 records on the season and 4-0 records in Region 6-AA play.

Throughout the evening it was a defensive struggle as both offenses found trouble moving the ball against their opponent's tough defense. The two teams alternated possessions in the opening quarter and the score was tied at zero at the end of the first quarter.

Lewis County was able to put the first points on the board as they finished off a drive that began in the first quarter when Lincoln Brewer busted into the endzone from three yards out. Timothy Brown added the point after to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead two minutes into the second quarter.

The Panther defense would hold firm, and the score would hold at 7-0 as the game reached halftime.

The third quarter was more of the same from both defensive squads as the teams exchanged possessions early, but Riverside found the equalizer late in the period, breaking free on a 23-yard run and point after to tie the game at 7 as the game moved on to the fourth quarter of regulation.

The score remained tied until Riverside finished off a drive with a 12-yard run and point after to claim a 14-7 lead with just under three and a half minutes left to play.

On the ensuing possession the home town Panthers faced a fourth down and nine yards to go from their own 27-yard line. Coach Derek Rang came up with a huge play call as quarterback Brycen McDonald tossed a lateral to Dyer Barnes flanked out toward the right boundary, and Barnes collected the ball and fired a strike to a streaking Lincoln Brewer who sprinted 73 yards to the endzone to score for the Panthers and cut the Riverside lead to 14-13 with a conversion attempt upcoming.

Coach Rang again came up with a crucial call, opting for the two-point attempt to win instead of kicking the extra point to tie. Brycen McDonald took the snap and rolled toward the Panther sideline and fired a strike to Dyer Barnes in the back of the endzone for the two-point conversion, giving Lewis County a 15-14 lead with two minutes remaining.

The Panther defense held firm, and the last-ditched effort by Riverside came up empty as the Panthers took the win 15-14 to claim the Region 6-AA Championship.

Lincoln Brewer had 17 carries for 31 yards and a touchdown to lead the Panther ground attack, and Brycen McDonald added 13 yards on 3 carries. Brycen McDonald was 15 for 38 passing for 108 yards and 3 interceptions. Dyer Barnes completed his only attempt for a 73-yard touchdown. Lincoln Brewer had 2 receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown, Dyer Barnes 7 receptions for 57 yards, Bentley Kelsey 4 receptions for 35 yards, and Chaz Sparkman 3 receptions for 9 yards.

The Panther defense came up big in the region championship game, and Lane Barnes led the way with 19 tackles and 2 tackles for loss, Nathaniel Caamal added 11 tackles, Lincoln Brewer and Dyer Barnes each had 9 tackles, Chaz Sparkman 8 tackles and 1 for loss, Eli Carroll 8 tackles, Malachi Bruce 5 tackles, Bentley Kelsey 4 tackles, Dominic Seiber 3 tackles, Riley Ray 2 tackles, and Ethan Ray and Brennan Davis each had a tackle.

The Panthers (9-1, 5-0) will be the #1 seed from Region 6-AA and will host the Cascade Champions (6-4, 2-3), the #4 seed from Region 5-AA on Friday night, October 4th at 7:00 p.m.