On Military Appreciation Night at Dad’s Stadium, the visiting Gaither Cowboys battled the home team Plant Panthers hard for the better part of three quarters. But in the fourth quarter, Plant combined an aerial attack with a ground assault to pull away from the Cowboys and earn a hard-fought 37-10 non-district victory.

Plant struck first with a 31-yard field goal from Stephen Yaffe. Later in the first half, Plant added a 45-yard back-screen touchdown pass from junior quarterback Rex Culpepper to senior Patrick Brooks to take a 10-0 lead. A pair of 15-yard penalties against the Panthers on what would have been the final play of the half set up a 33 yard field goal from Gaither’s Corey Hobson to cut Plant’s halftime lead to 10 – 3.

In the third quarter, Gaither took advantage of a Plant fumble, as David Mazur executed the QB sneak from 2 yards out. Hobson’s extra point tied the game 10 – 10. Plant responded with a 33-yard touchdown run from Brooks. A short while later, Gaither gambled on a fourth down play from their own side of the field, but Plant’s Joe Ryan came up big for the Panthers. Working with a short field, Culpepper hit Brooks on a skinny post for a 15-yard TD pass and a 24-10 lead. On Gaither’s ensuing possession, Plant’s Derrick Baity stepped in front of a short pass from Mazur and returned it 12 yards for a pick-six. The 2-point conversion failed and Plant lead 30 – 10. Plant put an exclamation mark on its 4th quarter efforts on its next possession when Tykese Keaton-Baldwin burst up the middle for a 45-yard touchdown run. Final score: Plant 37, Gaither 10.

– Bob Barnes