Panthers hit stride in second half, beat Fayette County 31-14
Sophomore quarterback Joey DeLuca congratulates fellow sophomore running back Rico Frye after a touchdown run in the third quarter.
September 11, 2015
In a game that featured little passing and a whole lot of running, it seemed as if the Panthers had the advantage. Through two-and-a-half quarters, that didn’t seem like the case.
A late stretch from the Panthers was the difference maker as they defeated Fayette County Tigers 31-14 at Panther Stadium last Friday night to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Senior running back Dion Munerlyn finished with 8 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns, and had the only reception of the night, a 72-yard touchdown catch.
“We practiced that play multiple times this week,” Munerlyn said. “The defense was focused on the run and forgot about the passing game, so we called that play, and this time, we executed it perfectly.”
Sophomore quarterback Joey DeLuca also looked more comfortable in his second varsity start, according to head coach Chad Phillips.
“He looked a lot better this week,” Phillips said. “You’ve got to remember that he went from playing in front 50 people to over a thousand each week. There is going to be some growing pains, but we are pleased with his performance so far.”
The Panthers held a 10-0 lead in the second quarter, but the speed of the Tigers sprung their offense into high gear. A quick score from Malik Bowe on a 1-yard touchdown cut the Panther lead to 10-7 just before halftime.
“Coach got on to us in the locker room,” Munerlyn said. “He said we were playing poorly and that we were the better team. We took advantage of this team because they lost the week before and we have to remember to never take any team for granted.”
The Tigers engineered a touchdown drive in the first four minutes of the second half on a 6-yard run by Makenzie Stills. This gave Fayette their first lead of the ball game. Munerlyn had the turning point of the game with a 46-yard touchdown run, putting the team ahead, 14-10 with 6:10 to go in the third quarter.
“We had to stick together on defense and play for each other,” Munerlyn said. “The defense knows that the offense is going to score, but we had to believe in each other.”
The offense began to click right as the defense began to stop Fayette’s speedy offense. A 5-yard run from sophomore running back Rico Frye added to the lead. His touchdown gave him a team-high third touchdown of the season.
The following drive, Munerlyn scored on a 6-yard touchdown run, giving the Panthers a 31-14 lead, which turned into the final score.
“Offensively, we were really impressed with our backs,” Phillips said. “We have a run-heavy offense and when you get the production from the backs we got against Fayette, you’re going to be successful.”
The Panthers face Dutchtown tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Panther Stadium in their first region game. The team faced the Bulldogs twice last year, first in the regular season, then in the region play-in game which put the Panthers into the state playoffs for the first time since 2010, where the team was state runner-ups.
“In our minds, every week is a new season,” Phillips said. “We have to take this season one step at a time, if we start looking ahead, we will fall behind and not accomplish our goals.”
