WILMINGTON — Garrett Guess and Trey Robinette hooked up on three touchdown passes and Miami Trace held off Wilmington in a wild finish 28-22 Friday night at Alumni Field.
Guess caught TD passes of 8, 9 and 5 yards from Guess and the Panthers defense scored a touchdown in the final quarter to spoil Wilmington’s home opener.
The Panthers, 1-1 on the year, rallied from 7-0 and 14-7 to take a 21-14 lead in the third quarter. But Wilmington responded on Thad Stuckey’s 25-yard scoring run. The point after failed and Miami Trace was clinging to a 21-20 lead.
WHS held the Trace on downs on the next series. However the first play from scrimmage for the Hurricane from the 35 resulted in a bad snap. The ball rolled in to the end zone where it was recovered by the Panthers defense. With 6:59 remaining, Trace led 28-20.
The teams traded turnovers — WHS tossed an interception at the goal line then Trace fumbled right back to WHS — and the Hurricane had one last chance. WHS failed on a third down play but Trace was whistled for a personal foul. With the penalty being half the distance to the goal — 12 yards — WHS didn’t get a first down and had to go for it on fourth down. Wilmington came up well short. Trace took a safety on the ensuing drive and won the game.
Miami Trace had 119 yards rushing and 87 yards passing. The Hurricane finished with 301 yards on the ground and 29 through the air.
In other games involving Frontier Athletic Conference teams Friday night, Chillicothe defeated London, 27-24; Goshen beat Hillsboro, 14-7 and McClain edged Northwester, 36-35.
