Last season the Miami Trace Panthers won a total of two football games.
Last night, the Panthers won their third game of the season, improving to 3-2, 35-21 over Western Brown.
It was Homecoming and the Panthers had a large crowd on hand and were able to use the new home-side bleachers for the first time.
“We started quick,” Miami Trace head coach Jerry Williams said. “We saw that we could do some different things, out-scheme them up front, things like that.”
Sophomore Jayden LeBeau rushed for four touchdowns and had 235 yards on 15 carries at halftime.
The first touchdown of the game came on the Panthers first possession.
Dalton Mayer hit Joshua Gilmore for a 25-yard pass.
Justin Shoemaker’s kick made it 7-0 with 7:40 to play in the first quarter.
Western Brown tied the game with 1:37 to play in the first quarter, with Drew Novak hitting Logan Campbell for a 50-yard pass completion.
The extra-point kick was good, knotting the score at 7-7.
Western Brown threw the ball a whopping 79 times in the game, which might be some kind of record by an opponent of the Panthers.
Only moments later, LeBeau broke lose and scampered 61 yards to give the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish.
Shoemaker’s kick gave the Panthers a 14-7 lead with 1:13 to play in the first quarter.
On the Panthers’ fourth possession of the game, LeBeau carried from 10 yards out.
Shoemaker’s extra-point attempt was good, making the score 21-7 at the 11:08 mark of the second quarter.
Western Brown moved the ball down inside the Miami Trace 30-yard line, but could go no further.
After turning the ball back over to the Panthers on downs, Miami Trace soon scored again on a 58-yard run. The score came with 4:11 to play in the first half.
Shoemaker’s kick gave the Panthers a 28-7 lead.
Then, after an interception by Miami Trace’s Brayden Cooper-Smith, LeBeau broke another long run, this one for 66 yards.
The extra-point by Shoemaker gave the Panthers a 35-7 halftime lead.
Western Brown scored with 11:51 to play in the game, a 15-yard pass from Novak to Gary Powell.
The final score came with 7:41 to play, a pass from Novak and Yanni Williams.
Miami Trace (3-2) will open Frontier Athletic Conference play at Hillsboro next week. The Indians fell to 3-2 with a 40-14 loss at Clermont Northeastern Friday night.
