Panthers score twice in fourth quarter to win 36-34 on Homecoming

The Riverside Panthers survived a nail biter Friday night as they came back to defeat the Trinity Christian Academy (TCA) Lions 36-34. The Lions came to play as they lit it up offensively and hampered the Panther offense all night. Being down as much as two scores several times in the game, the Panthers never quit. In the fourth quarter they made their push and rallied for two touchdowns and two, two-point conversions to capture their first lead.

Panther fans still had to hold their breath in the final seconds as TCA attempted a 37-yard field goal to win the game, but the kick fell short and set off quite the celebration on Larry Barrett Field. The Panthers go-ahead touchdown came with 2:25 left in the fourth quarter as Kaleb Mays took a jet sweep left and scored from 49 yards out after some fancy maneuvering. “When I first took the handoff I couldn’t really see my lane yet. I was just working, I cut off two blocks and was able to dodge everyone and get to the goal line. After I scored it was just surreal. I knew the game wasn’t over but trusted in our guys to seal the deal. It was a great feeling and win.”

The Panthers opened the game with the ball and penalties became the theme of the game quickly as the Panthers were forced to a third and long. Stone Wallace found Matthew Wyatt for 14 yards but were still short four yards. An incomplete pass on fourth down gave TCA the ball and with a short field the Lions ran seven plays and scored from the Panther one-yard line to lead 7-0.

Riverside went to work their next series and Wallace hit Wyatt for 25 yards on first down. A pass to Aiden Creasey went for 10 yards and Desmond Thomas had two consecutive carries for a total of 25 yards. Wallace ran off tackle for 12 more and Thomas finished it with a one-yard plunge and the Panthers trailed 7-6.

On the Lions next possession, Keeton Evans had a tackle for a loss to force a third and long that TCA converted. Eight plays later TCA was forced to a fourth and one from the one-yard line. The pass was caught at the pylon and the Lions took a 14-6 lead. The Panthers went three and out their next series and two plays later the Lions scored on an 89-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-6 as the Panther crowd grew silent.

The Panthers––needing to answer in a big way––got 21 yards from a Wallace run early. Parker Wilks then ran for 11 yards behind a good block from Jeb Graves. On the next play Wallace went left and used a great block from Nick Taylor to score a 25-yard touchdown. The score now stood 21-12.

A tackle for a loss by Jack Camper––and a broken up pass from Wyatt––forced the first Lion punt. The Panthers were driving when another holding call put them in another bad field position and a 10-yard pass from Wallace to Wyatt was one-yard short of the first. A big sack by Ty Hernandez forced another punt right before the half and it was 21-12 at the end of one half of play.

The Lions did not waste any time coming out of the half as they scored on a 60-yard run on their first play from scrimmage to increase their lead to 27-12. Riverside converted on their first possession of the first half as Wallace hit Wilks on a pass. Wilks then ran for 34 yards to get well into Lion territory and five plays later Wallace used another good block from Taylor to score on an 8-yard keeper to trail 27-20 after the Wilks two-point play.

The Lions did not check up and used the pass once again to get inside the 10-yard line. A two-yard touchdown followed and TCA led 34-20 with 4:06 left in the third. Riverside looked to be rolling again with a pass to Jack Cupples and runs by Mays and Wallace, but an interception killed the threat and fans let out a big sigh as the high-powered TCA offense took the field again.

Pressure from the defensive line and good coverage from the secondary forced a Lion punt but the Panthers returned the favor. The Lions were forced to another fourth down but coverage from Evans gave the ball back to Big Blue. The Panthers converted an early third down with a pass to Bo Brantley for six yards. Wallace ran 12 more yards and hit Brantley again. Wallace went upfield for 19 more yards and on second down Mays was able to turn the right edge for an 8-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was good and it was 34-28 with 5:46 left in the fourth.

TCA got inside Panther territory their next series but failed to capitalize on fourth down and Riverside was raring to go. Mays found the corner again for 10 yards and Wallace added six more. Mays then went left taking the handoff and used great downfield vision using two blockers to weave around defenders for the game tying 49-yard touchdown. Wilks ran through a gigantic hole for the two-point conversion and RHS led 36-34 with just 2:25 left to play.

The Lions got good field position on the ensuing kick but pressure from Hernandez and Jagger Cupples forced a fourth down attempt that required a measurement to get the first down. The Lions converted another first down and on first Wyatt broke up a pass for the incompletion. On third down Hernandez tipped a screen pass to force a fourth. An interception by Wallace supposedly ended the threat till dirty laundry once again littered the field with an interference call against the Panthers.With time running out the Lions made one last gasp with a 37-yard field goal for the win, but the Lions ran out of lives finally as the kick was short which set off an exciting Panther win as they travel to Paul Ward Stadium this Friday.

Head Coach Johnnie Frost commented, “What a game with a great playoff atmosphere. You might say we didn’t play our best game, but we continued to plug away and make adjustments. Our kids battled and never got down, and because they refused to give in, we were able to take our first lead late in the fourth.” He continued, “Give tons of credit to TCA. They played hard we just chose to play harder longer. I would like to thank our crowd for never getting down and staying behind our guys. Your support helped us pull out a great comeback win. Moving forward, you only have to say ‘Huntingdon.’ Can’t wait to see Panther Nation invade Mustang land.”