Plant senior Alex Jackson celebrated Senior Night at Dad’s Stadium in style by hauling in a pair of short touchdown passes and later returning a kickoff the length of the field in leading the Panthers to a 30-14 Homecoming victory over the visiting Newsome Wolves.
Plant received the opening kickoff and quickly moved down the field on its opening possession. Junior Patrick Brooks broke off a 45-yard run. On the next play, senior Fletcher Barnes hauled in a 16-yard pass from classmate Colby Brown to set up a first and goal from the 9 yard line. A loss, a bad snap and an incomplete pass forced the Panthers to settle for a 36-yard field goal from junior Clarke Miller to give Plant an early 3-0 lead.
The Plant defense set the tone early, forcing a quick ‘three and out.’ Seniors Andrew Beck, Brenden Bomar, Chandler Reed, Austin Hudson, Mazzi Wilkins and Jackson Kilcoyne led the defense, with help from underclassmen Scoop Bradshaw, Kyle Henderson and Derrick Baity. Back on offense, and keyed by a ‘just enough for a first’ on a 4th and two and a 9 yard completion to senior Cam Winter, Plant worked its way into Newsome territory. Jackson was on the receiving end of two Colby Brown passes, the second one resulting in a touchdown. Miller’s PAT was successful and Plant had a 10-0 advantage.
Three Newsome runs totaling 6 yards forced another punt. Brooks ran for 5 yards and Brown completed passes to Winter (for 20 yards) and senior linebacker/tight end Andrew Beck (for 21 more yards) setting up a second Brown-to-Jackson scoring connection and giving the Panthers a 17-0 lead early in second quarter.
For the third time in as many possessions, the Wolves were unable to muster a first down. However, with the first half closing to an end, Newsome moved the ball into Plant territory, where junior Bruce Anderson ripped off a 31 yard touchdown run to put Newsome on the board and cut the deficit to ten points (17-7). In a matter of seconds, however, Plant extended the lead back to 17 points (24-7) when Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff 99 1/2 yards for a touchdown. Newsome, on the strength of a 35-plus yard completion from quarterback Zac Slater to fellow senior Tyson Mills, got the ball down to the Plant 2 yard line. The Panther defense stiffened, pushing Newsome back. The Wolves were forced to try a field goal, but came up empty when the field goal attempt was pushed wide right. The half ended with Plant up 24-7.
Newsome started the second half like they started the first half – with a three and out. The Panthers were unable to take advantage of the situation and turned the ball over on downs when a 4th down screen play netted only 13 of the 15 yards needed for the first down. The pattern repeated itself, with the Wolves going three and out followed by Plant turning the ball over on downs. The Wolves passing game managed little under heavy pressure (with Kendall Wichman and Myles Scott leading the way), but the threat of more passes seemed to open up the running game a little for the visitors. A ten-yard run from Slater was followed by a fumble, which was recovered by Panther Raeder Frantzen at the Newsome 35 yard line.
As the third quarter slid into the fourth, Plant used short passes from Brown (to John Rutledge and Barnes) and runs from Brooks and senior Jake Buxton to set up a 1 yard quarterback sneak from Brown. A mishandled snap thwarted the point after, but Plant had its biggest lead of the night at 30-7.
Newsome responded by moving the ball, but turned the ball over on downs when the drive stalled. Plant followed suit in its ensuing drive. Newsome managed to put together a scoring drive from midfield in the final minute of the game, resulting in a 30-14 final score.
The Panthers move to 6-1-1 overall and 3-0 in District 8A-6 action, while the Wolves drop to .500 with a 4-4 overall record and a 1-2 district record. Both teams continue with district action next Friday night, with Newsome traveling to Bloomingdale and Plant taking on Wharton.
– Robert Barnes