Miami Traces Kenny Perkins (carrying the ball) rushed for 218 yards and all six of Miami Traces touchdowns Friday night in a 42-40 win over the Washington Blue Lions.
Zach Free (No. 30) of the Blue Lions, set a new school single-season rushing record of 1,708 yards after his 216-yard performance Friday night against the Panthers.
Panthers hold off late-charging Blue Lions to post 42-40 win in SCOL rivalry contest Panthers and Blue Lions share 2007 SCOL title with Clinton-Massie
CHRIS HOPPES Sports Editor
The Washington Blue Lions were going for their first outright SCOL football championship since 1989.
The Miami Trace Panthers were gunning for a share of their 19th overall SCOL championship (and fourth in five years) when they welcomed the Blue Lions to Panther Stadium on what proved to be a mild Friday, Oct. 26.
In the end, the Panthers were able to hold on and avoid a potential overtime situation as they posted a 42-40 win over the Blue Lions. The Panthers Kenny Perkins scored all six of the winning team's touchdowns.
The win by the Panthers creates a three-way tie for the SCOL title, with the Panthers, the Blue Lions and the Clinton-Massie Falcons all finishing the league at 5-1.
The game turned out to be the highest-scoring combined point total (82) in the now 39 total games the teams have played. The game was also the closest in the series since Miami Trace won 21-20 in 1994.
In the first quarter, the two teams exchanged two touchdowns to leave the score 14-14.
In the second quarter, the Panthers began to exert themselves defensively, while continuing to move the ball up and down the field, taking a 28-14 lead into the lockerroom.
The game might have appeared securely in the win column for the Panthers at that point, but anyone who really felt that way was only fooling themselves.
The Blue Lions got on the board first in the third quarter on a 35-yard touchdown run by Zach Free. The extra point kick hit the left upright and bounded away, leaving the Blue Lions down by eight points, 28-20.
Perkins scored again for the Panthers, this time on a six-yard run to cap a 10-play drive with 4:58 to play in the third quarter.
The Blue Lions responded with just under one minute to play in the third quarter when quarterback Isaac Free hit Zach Free for an 11-yard touchdown strike. Kimmet's kick made it 35-27.
The Panthers started the scoring in the fourth quarter as the rains finally came down with a vengeance. A nine-yard run and Brett Garland's kick made it 42-27.
The Blue Lions got the final two touchdowns to make this game the highest-scoring in the history of the series.
Zach Free had an eight-yard run and Kimmet's kick made it 42-34 with 6:39 to play in the game.
With 1:55 to play in the game, Isaac Free hit Cox again, this time for 35 yards and a score to make it 42-40.
The Blue Lions ran for two to the left end, but the play was stuffed by the Panther defense, a play that proved to be the difference.
The Panthers had the ball and were trying to simply run out the clock. However, Isaac Free came up with a fumble recovery at the Blue Lion 30-yard line with 1:35 to play.
Running out of time and time outs, the Blue Lions were facing a third down and two at their own 39-yard line.
Isaac Free scrambled out the pocket and lofted a ball down the visitor's side of the field.
The Panthers' Ryan Garland leapt to make the interception and from there, quarterback Herbie Carson was able to take a knee a couple of times to secure the win.
In the contest, the Panthers' Kenny Perkins scored six touchdowns on runs of 33, 30, 4, 1, 6, and 9 yards. He had a total of 218 yards on 20 carries.
Nathan Williams rushed 14 times for 77 yards.
For the Blue Lions, Zach Free set a new school rushing record for a single season now with 1,708 yards. He had 216 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries.
For the game, the Blue Lions had 274 net yards of rushing on 48 carries.
The Panthers netted 294 yards rushing on 41 carries.
Isaac Free's 156 yards passing gave the Blue Lions the edge in total offense with 430 to 351 for the Panthers.
The net result is a three-way tie for the SCOL as Clinton-Massie, the Blue Lions and the Panthers all finish the 2007 season with a league record of 5-1.
"It was just a great effort by our kids all night," Miami Trace head coach Jeff Conroy said. "It was a great football game. A class program with coach Enochs over there and his kids. They never quit.
"We told our kids at halftime, they're not going to quit, they're going to keep playing hard," Conroy said. "For a moment there it looked like it had Clinton-Massie written all over it. But what a great defensive stand down here on the two-point conversion.
"(Ryan Garland) had a great interception," Conroy said. "Our kids played their hearts out; both teams did. Our offensive line played awfully well. We ran the ball well tonight. It was just a great night for Miami Trace football.
"It was a big victory for us," Conroy said. "I'm awfully proud of our seniors. We told our kids from day one, there's a good football team in here somewhere and I think we proved that tonight. What we did tonight was, we beat an awfully good football team."
"I am awfully proud of these kids," Washington head coach John Enochs said standing just outside the visitor's lockerroom after he had addressed his team. "They never gave up. They played to the end. It's a credit to our seniors, what a year they've had, no matter what happened tonight, they had a great year and I'm proud of them.
"We didn't play well defensively tonight, and that's obvious," Enochs said. "We just kept going at it. Our kids didn't quit. We were just a couple of inches from tying that baby up.
"I feel sick for these kids, especially for our seniors," Enochs said. "But I am so proud of them. They're shook up right now, but, hey, we might have another game left to play. We'll have to wait until Sunday to find out."
The Blue Lions are hopeful that they will stay in the top eight in Division III, Region 12 and qualify for a playoff game. They stood at No. 3 in Region 12 heading into the game.
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