Panthers win 7th Straight in Dramatic Fashion

In a showdown of two teams likely headed for the MHSAA playoffs, the homestanding Panthers edged Decatur in an overtime thriller, 24-16.

The game started out a little slow as both offenses tried to feel their way against good defenses.  The Panthers were doing their best to shut down the powerful Raider rushing game led by Senior RB AJ Jackson.  Meanwhile Decatur faced the task of trying to shut down the explosive Watervliet offense that has averaged over 400 yards a game through a combination of running and passing.  The Decatur offense was able to strike first hitting from three yards out after a long Jackson run put them in prime scoring position.  The two point conversion was good and the visiting Raiders had taken an 8-0 first quarter lead.  The Panther offense went to work on their next series moving down to the Decatur 4 yard line before back to back procedure penalties backed them up.  Senior kicker Marco Montejano made sure the drive did not end up empty, knocking a 30 yard field goals to cut the lead to 8-3.

The Panther offense got it revved up again on their first drive of the second quarter after Senior Cornerback Timmy Flagel picked off his first of two passes on the night.  Led by Senior QB Kevin Eastman the offense picked its way down the field with a mix of passes and runs.  The drive culminated with a 12 yard scoring strike from Eastman to Senior WR Cory Quinn.  The extra point was no good, but the Panthers held a 9-8 lead.  The Panther defense continued to play tough the remainder of the quarter, giving up some yards on the ground, but getting stops when they needed them.  After Flagel’s second pick of the half the Panther offense had just over a minute to go 80 yards.  It proved to be more than enough time as Eastman hit Junior WR Aaron Dabicci on a big play down the sideline, and connected with Flagel and Quinn to move the ball inside the 20.  Eastman then hit Dabicci on a crossing route and the speedy Junior outraced all would be tacklers to the corner for a 14 yard catch and run TD.  The extra point was good and with 25 seconds left in the half the Panthers had taken a 16-8 lead.

The second half proved to be a defensive struggle.  The Panthers continued their stellar play against the pass, breaking up potentially big plays and picking off three more passes.  One from Senior safety Cory Quinn and two from outstanding Sophomore outside linebacker Kevin Dembinski.  Dembinski had a fantastic game playing well against the run and the pass.  The Watervliet offense moved the ball well in the second half, but muffed one field goal and had another blocked, meaning no points on the board.  The only score of the second half came on a Watervliet fumble that was scooped up by none other than AJ Jackson and returned for a Decatur TD.  The 2 point play was good and Decatur knotted up the score at 16.  With neither team able to score again in the half the game headed in to overtime.  It was the first OT game of the season for the Panthers, while Decatur was playing in OT for the third time this season.

Decatur won the flip and elected to play defense first.  The Panther offense took little time in putting the pressure on the visitors.  Eastman hit Quinn for a 9 yard gain on first down to put the Panthers on the one yard line.  Senior RB Collin Buck powered it in from there behind two big Defensive Tackles turned fullbacks in Jake Elliot and DJ Howley.  The Panthers went right back to the same play for the two point play and Buck bounced it outside for the quick score giving the Panthers an 8 point edge.  The Watervliet defense proved to be up to the task as Decatur took the field.  On first down the Raiders went to Jackson (who ended with 235 yards rushing on the night) but Dembinski tracked him down for a huge 5 yard loss on first down.  The Raiders decided to test the outside going the other way, but Senior OLB Michael Johnson would not be outdone by his Sophomore teammate and he too dropped Jackson for a 5 yard loss.  The Raiders, who struggled throwing most of the night, now faced a third and goal from the 20.  On third down three Panther defenders converged on the intended receiver causing him to drop the ball.  On fourth down the Raider QB tripped and fell and pandemonium ensued from the Watervliet sideline.

The defense played bend but don’t break all night allowing only one TD and coming up with 5 huge interceptions.  Senior linebacker Collin Buck led the way with 11 tackles.  Senior defensive end Max Goodrich played outstanding, recording 9 tough tackles.  OLB’s Dembinski and Johnson each had 8 tackles while Dembinski added 2 INT’s.  Flagel was all over the field with 8 tackles and 2 interceptions. The Panthers held the high octane Decatur offense to 295 yards of total offense keeping their streak of under 300 yard games (all alive.

The offense moved the ball well most of the night racking up 400 yards of offense.  Sophomore Tyler Scott, just called up from the JV this week to fill in for the injured Brett Thumm, led the ground attack with 18 carries for 59 yards.  WR Aaron Dabicci had 3 carries for 33 yards.  In all 5 Panthers combined for 118 yards on the ground and one TD (Buck).  Eastman continued his great play going 22/41 through the air for 282 yards 2 TD’s and 1 INT.  Dabicci had 7 catches for 107 yards and a TD, while Quinn grabbed 10 passes on the night for 99 yards and a TD.  Flagel also made his mark on offense grabbing 4 passes for 76 yards.

The Panthers (7-1, 4-0) take to the road to face the Lawton Blue Devils next Friday night.  Lawton (7-1, 4-0) beat Lawrence Friday night.  The game will be for all the marbles in the SAC South as the two teams are tied for first place with only one game to go.  Gametime is set for 7:00.