“We just failed to come out and play Panther-style football,” head coach Kirk Warner said when questioned about their 7-20 loss at the hands of the Burke County Bears.
Despite the loss, Warner and the Panthers will take the lessons from Friday’s game and focus on their next task — the homecoming game against Richmond Hill.
“We can’t look back. We need to focus and tackle the next opponent,” Warner said.
Warner noted the defense shown by the Bears basically shut down a good portion of their passing game. Their running game soon became ineffective. It was a good defensive display that stopped the Bears from putting up more points.
Defensive coordinator Thomas Desbiens said his defense was able to regroup in the second half.
“They showed a lot of heart in the second half,” he said. “Our defense gave the offense an opportunity to get back into the game. We held Burke to only one first down and 41 total yards in the entire second half.”
Desbiens said it was two mental breakdowns that took the Panthers out of the game. One of them cost the Panthers a touchdown and the other allowed for a 34-yard run against his defense that set up the Bears’ next scoring drive.
Even though the defense held their ground, the offense could not get the momentum to break through the eight-man front of the Bears’ defense.
Leading the tackles was Dimitri Lane with eight tackles, four assists and two tackles for a loss. DeAngelo Quarterman, Reggie Bodie, Trier Bennett, Anthony Price, Artavious Frost and Marcus Jefferson had three tackles each. Kendrick Jones, Brandon Roberts and Tachory Rhodes had two tackles each while Byron Calahan and Thomas Penny had one.
This was only the second loss for the Panthers this season but it was their first region game. The Panthers still have tough opponents to face in Richmond Hill, Hephzibah, Benedictine and South Effingham and need to maintain more wins than losses to make the region 3A-AAA playoffs.
They are 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the region.
Events for
homecoming week
Monday: Twin Day
Tuesday: Nerd Day
Wednesday: Fashion
Disaster Day
Thursday: Dress for
success Day
Friday: Black and Gold Day
Despite the loss, Warner and the Panthers will take the lessons from Friday’s game and focus on their next task — the homecoming game against Richmond Hill.
“We can’t look back. We need to focus and tackle the next opponent,” Warner said.
Warner noted the defense shown by the Bears basically shut down a good portion of their passing game. Their running game soon became ineffective. It was a good defensive display that stopped the Bears from putting up more points.
Defensive coordinator Thomas Desbiens said his defense was able to regroup in the second half.
“They showed a lot of heart in the second half,” he said. “Our defense gave the offense an opportunity to get back into the game. We held Burke to only one first down and 41 total yards in the entire second half.”
Desbiens said it was two mental breakdowns that took the Panthers out of the game. One of them cost the Panthers a touchdown and the other allowed for a 34-yard run against his defense that set up the Bears’ next scoring drive.
Even though the defense held their ground, the offense could not get the momentum to break through the eight-man front of the Bears’ defense.
Leading the tackles was Dimitri Lane with eight tackles, four assists and two tackles for a loss. DeAngelo Quarterman, Reggie Bodie, Trier Bennett, Anthony Price, Artavious Frost and Marcus Jefferson had three tackles each. Kendrick Jones, Brandon Roberts and Tachory Rhodes had two tackles each while Byron Calahan and Thomas Penny had one.
This was only the second loss for the Panthers this season but it was their first region game. The Panthers still have tough opponents to face in Richmond Hill, Hephzibah, Benedictine and South Effingham and need to maintain more wins than losses to make the region 3A-AAA playoffs.
They are 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the region.
Events for
homecoming week
Monday: Twin Day
Tuesday: Nerd Day
Wednesday: Fashion
Disaster Day
Thursday: Dress for
success Day
Friday: Black and Gold Day