Published: August 27, 2007 05:52 pm         

Stone pounds cross-town rival CCHS in 34-0 victory

Panthers claim inaugural King of the Mountain trophy

The evening began on an extremely hot note and the Cumberland County Fair was in town but none of that deterred a large crowd from attending the Jets versus Panthers contest at CCHS. Both coaching staffs had their squads primed and ready and that feeling spilled over into the crowd.

A large and evenly divided crowd saw the Jets of Coach Tony Schultz take the offensive first with junior Lucas Johnson handling the quarterback duties. After runs by Frank Pursell and Johnson, Brad Davis was stopped short of the first down and a Bobby Griffin punt was returned to the Jet 21 yard line by Jake Cokkinias.

Runs by Chris Pelfrey, Brandon Howard and Tommy Smith put the ball on the CCHS two and Howard carried it in from there. Evan Sanders' PAT had the Panthers leading 7-0 with 8:48 remaining in the first period.

The Panther defense held again to force a punt but the punt was fumbled and the Jets' Chase Wood recovered at the CCHS 48. The Panther defense, led by Steven Brown, stopped the Jets and Stone took over again at their own 36 yard line.

After a Chris Green run for a first down, the Jet defense led by Pursell, Adam Rickets and Cody Smith held, forcing a field goal attempt by Sanders from 49 yards that was short and the first period ended with the Panthers leading 7-0.

The second quarter began with Tommy Smith recovering a Jet fumble at the 36 yard line but the Jet defense held and CCHS took over at their 20. This drive looked as if it was going to produce something good for the Jets but a long pass completion to Zaq Pearson was nullified by offensive pass interference.

Defense by both squads and penalties were the order for the second period as neither squad was able to score before halftime. Cokkinias returned a Jet punt 68 yards for an apparent TD but an illegal block nullified the score. The Panthers also had the ball in scoring position at the CCHS 10 but the Jets recovered a fumble with 26 seconds remaining in the half to thwart another Stone scoring attempt as the half ended with the Panthers leading by a 7-0 score.

Of the first half coach Marty Davis of Stone Memorial said, "We were just trying to do too much and we tried to simplify it some for the second half." He added, "Our young quarterback Chris Green did some outstanding things for us and he got much more comfortable as the game went on and made some excellent reads."

Stone took the opening kickoff and began at their 20. From there Pelfrey set sail and was tackled 48 yards later by Jet standouts Pearson and Griffin. Howard and Smith did the rest for the Panthers and Smith scored from two yards out. Sanders' PAT had Stone leading 14-0 with 9:15 remaining in the third period.

Despite some good running by the Jets' Johnson, Pursell and Travis Whittenburg, CCHS was unable to score and the Panthers took over on their 30-yard line. Runs by Pelfrey and Brandon Stover took Stone to their 44 and quarterback Green, after a crushing block by Justin Patton, ran to the Jet 43. Jet standout Bobby Griffin was injured on the play and would have to sit out several series.

Green then hit Patton on a deep route and the Panther lead was stretched to 20-0 with four minutes left in the third quarter.

On the next Jet series, the Panthers' Smith intercepted the Jet pass, returning it to the two, and he took it in on the first play from scrimmage, giving the visitors a 27-0 lead after Sanders' PAT.

That would end the scoring until the 6:49 mark of the final period when the very elusive Ben Dodd, running back for the Panthers scampered in from the 10-yard line and Sanders' kick produced the final margin of 34-0.

There were standout players from both sides in this contest with Pearson, Griffin, Pursell and Ethan Spitler along with Chase Wood making outstanding contributions for the Jets.

Panther coach Marty Davis had praise for several of his players. He said, "Bryant Reagan, Steven Brown, Zack Brumfield and the entire defense stepped up big. I was very pleased with all the kids and the effort they showed us. I won't be disappointed as long as the young men give us this kind of effort." Of the overall atmosphere the Panther mentor commented, "This was a great rivalry environment. That goes for the players, students and fans from both schools."

"We never got into the flow of the game. We shot ourselves in the foot. They played aggressively," said Coach Tony Shultz.

The Panthers will host Knox Catholic on Friday evening while CCHS travels to Rhea County.