Panthers roll over McClain, 46-0

0

GREENFIELD — The Miami Trace Panthers went to McClain High School Friday in search of their first win of the 2017 season.

The McClain Tigers were also looking for their first ‘W’ of the campaign.

The Panthers took care of business, winning the battle up front and posting a 46-0 victory in their first Frontier Athletic Conference football game.

Miami Trace built a 26-0 halftime lead and added three touchdowns in the second half for the dominating victory.

“We did what we set out to do and that was control the line of scrimmage,” Miami Trace head coach Jerry Williams said. “We were able to do that. It was very clear to us what we had to do; we had to get off to a fast start.

“You had two 0-5 teams,” Williams said. “Two teams that have been struggling. It was very important to get out of the gate (quickly). We played mature football tonight. We made good decisions and made big strides tonight.”

Miami Trace had the first possession of the game. The Panthers moved the ball down field, but they were stopped at the McClain 4-yard line.

It was one of the few times the Tigers were able to keep the Panthers out of the end zone Friday night.

On their second possession, however, the Panthers scored on a 6-yard run by Brady Wallace. Justin Shoemaker’s kick gave the Panthers a 7-0 lead with four minutes to play in the first quarter.

The Panthers scored on their third possession on the first play of the second quarter a 2-yard run by Wallace. The extra-point kick was no good, leaving the Panthers in front, 13-0.

The Panthers thwarted McClain’s third possession with an interception by Caden Sweitzer.

That play set up the Panthers’ third score, an 8-yard pass from Tyler Taylor to Coby Hughes at the 10:53 mark. The PAT kick made it 20-0, Panthers.

The Panthers scored on their fifth possession of the half on a 78-yard run by Wallace.

The extra-point kick was no good.

The Tigers moved the ball on their next possession, taking it down to the Miami Trace 23-yard line. A field goal attempt of 40 yards was blocked by the Panthers’ Luke Henry.

The Panthers scored on their first possession of the second half, a 15-yard pass from Taylor to Sweitzer. The extra-point kick by Shoemaker made it 33-0, Miami Trace with 8:04 remaining in the third.

The Panthers scored again at the 1:59 mark of the third quarter on a 6-yard run by Malik Jackson.

The point-after kick gave the Panthers a 40-0 lead.

Beginning the fourth quarter, Jackson intercepted a McClain pass and he would soon score to make it 46-0. A bad snap prevented the Panthers from attempting the extra-point kick.

Miami Trace will have it’s Homecoming game next Friday against the Jackson Ironmen.

Jackson defeated the Washington Blue Lions Friday, 31-20.

McClain (0-6, 0-1) will play at Chillicothe next Friday.

http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2017/09/web1_Caden-Sweitzer-returns-interception-at-mcClain.jpg
Notch 1st win of the season

By Chris Hoppes

[email protected]

No posts to display