Panthers Rebound with Big Win

The Lewis County Panther hosted the Mt. Pleasant Tigers in a big region matchup on Friday night, September 20th looking to bounce back after a tough regional loss at Loretto the week before.

After both defenses held strong and the teams exchanged possessions through the first quarter, the Panthers struck in the final minute of the period as Brycen McDonald found Fletch Kelsey on a 10-yard touchdown pass and Drew Ray added the conversion run to put the Panthers up 8-0.

Midway through the second quarter Lewis County's Micah Godfrey sprinted through the Tiger defense on his way to a 34-yard touchdown run and he added the point after kick to make it a 15-0 Panther lead. Later in the quarter Drew ray picked off a Tiger pass and rumbled 59 yards for a touchdown and Godfrey added the PAT to give the Panthers a 22-0 lead at halftime.

The Panthers would strike again after the halftime break when, with just under eight minutes remaining in the third, McDonald a Kelsey hooked up again, this time on a 43-yard touchdown pass, and Godfrey was true on his third point after to make it a 29-0 game.

The Tigers would respond on the ensuing kickoff, returning the kick 85 yards for a touchdown and adding a successful conversion run to make it a 29-8 game.

The Panthers would add to their lead late in the third as Godfrey found the endzone on a 10-yard run and hit the PAT to make the score 36-8 as play moved to the fourth quarter. Lewis County would score with just under seven minutes to go when McDonald and Kelsey connected for the third time in the game and Godfrey's point after kick was good to stretch the Panther lead to 43-8.

Mt. Pleasant would add one more score late on a 4-yard run, but the Panthers would take the big region win 43-14.

Micah Godfrey had a huge night on the ground for the Panthers for the second straight week. Godfrey broke his own school record for rushing yardage in a game, a record he set last week in Loretto, accumulating 306 yards on 38 carries with 2 touchdowns. Drew Ray had 27 yards on 5 carries, Braylon Bean 3 carries for 10 yards, Chaz Sparkman 2 carries for 7 yards, and Fletch Kelsey 1 carry for 1 yard. Brycen McDonald was 8 for 12 passing for 79 yards with 3 touchdowns. Fletch Kelsey had 4 receptions for 69 yards and 3 touchdowns, Chaz Sparkman 3 receptions for 8 yards, and Kobe Feichtinger 1 catch for 2 yards.

The Panther defense was stout on Friday night, holding the Tigers to only 164 total yards of offense and forcing 3 turnovers. Chaz Sparkman led the defense with 7 tackles and 1 for a loss, Nathanial Caamal had 7 tackles, Drew Ray had 6 tackles, 2 interceptions, returning one for a touchdown, Corbyn Harris 6 tackles, Noah Alkire 5 tackles, one for loss, and a sack, Tim Brown and Eli Carroll 4 tackles each, Dakota Hull, Dominic Seiber, and Kade Carroll 3 tackles each, Brennan Davis 2 tackles and a fumble recovery, Fletch Kelsey, Braylon Bean, and Jaylen Murphy 2 tackles each, and Aiden Wise, Samuel Moore, Logan Gallino, and Jaylen Edwards 1 tackle each.

The Panthers will host Harpeth Friday, September 29, at 7 p.m. in Region play.