The Whitharral Panthers relied on a stifling defense to shut out the visiting Kress Kangaroos in a 45-point rule shortened UIL Class 1A six-man football game last Friday.
Whitharral Head Football Coach Jeremy Holt said, “I was real pround of the response our kids had from last week to this week.”
He added, “They showed a lot of maturity as football players. We need to continue to show that growth over the next several weeks.”
Kress won the toss and elected to receive, but it did them little good as Landon Lee intercepted the Kangaroo pass on the second play from scrimmage, allowing the Panthers to take over on the Kress 30 yard line.
Brent Robinson got the call on first down and 15 for a sweep to the left. Finding that side of the field crowded with Kangaroos, Robinson reversed his field and went 30 yards for the first of three touchdowns for the sophomore during the game.
The kick failed for a 6-0 Whitharral lead. Kress took over on their own 29 yard line after the kickoff, going nowhere. A sack from Lee and Dawson Rodgers put the Kangaroos at second down and 30 to go.
Kress’ Cole Todd was forced to run as all receivers were covered, gaining 12 yards, but an illegal procedure flag on third down put the Kangaroos back on their own 25 yard line on third down.
Kingston Brumley was forced to dump off to Todd on third down losing two yards. Kress turned over on fourth down after a pass from Brumley to Kalin Teeple was incomplete.
Whitharral took over on the Kress 25 yard line and Rodgers ran down to the eight for a first down and goal to go for the Panthers.
Whitharral looked to be snakebit after that. Robinson was stopped at the line of scrimmage, then an illegal procedure call forced the Panthers back to the 13 yard line on second down.
A fumble was recovered by Whitharral but on the Kress 24 yard line, only a yard ahead of where the drive started.
Facing third down and goal from the Kress 24 yard line, Jack Griffin went to Copper Popelka for another Panther touchdown. This time the kick was good for a 14-0 Whitharral lead.
Kress started on their own 28 yard line this time and managed to work their way down to the Whitharral 18 yard line before the Panther defense stiffened nad forced a turnover on downs at the Whitharral 33 yard line with 7:15 left in the second quarter.
The Kress drive lasted just over six minutes and went 34 yards to come up empty. The Panthers on the other hand, scored again on the first play of the next drive, a 47 yard run by Robinson.
Kress went three plays and out on their next drive, while Whitharral put together another 47 yard touchdown, but this time it took seven plays before Robinson punched the ball three yards to score with just 35 seconds left in the half.
The Kangaroos had a touchdown run called back on the next drive, but the drive ended at the half-time buzzer with no score for Kress.
The first drive of the second half saw Whitharral start on the Kress 38 yard line, marching down to the 13 yard line before Robinson found Nate Sansom open for a 36-0 lead with just over one minute off the clock.
Whitharral kicked deep, forcing Kress to start on their own 23, but the Kangaroos were able to moved down to the Whitharral 28 yard line on the second play of the drive. A three yard gain on first down followed by a big gain on second down was negated by an illegal block, pinning the Kangaroos back to second down and 22 yards.
A two yard run forced Kress to go to the air, where Brumley was intercepted again, this time by Griffin.
Whitharral had a touchdown on the fourth play of the drive called back for illegal blocking, but came back and scored four plays after that on a Griffin to Lee combination for a 44-0 lead with 1:26 left in the third period.
Kress was again forced to turnover on downs, giving Whitharral the ball on the Kress 34 yard line. A big run from Rayden Potter put the Panters on the 10 yard line with first down and goal.
Rodgers did the final honors – a 10 yard touchdown run for a 50-0 score and the end of the game with 9:27 left in the fourth quarter.
Robinson had nine carries for 117 yards and three touchdowns. Rodgers had seven for 61 yards and a touchdown. Potter had a single 23 yard carry. Griffin went 3-for-5 for 66 yards and three touchdowns in the air. Brolin Kennedy was 2-for-2 for nine yads and Robinson had a single one yard throw. Lee had a single 29 yard touchdown catch. Popelka had one catch for 24 yards and a touchdown. Nate Sansom had a 13 yard touchdown catch. Rodgers had two catches for nine yards and Giffin had a single one yard catch.
On defense, Brolin Kennedy had seven tackles. Rodgers had 6 ½. Sansom had three. Nomar Gomez and Potter had 2 ½ apiece. Robinson and Griffin each had two. Carson Bates had 1 ½ tackles. Griffin and Lee also had and interception.
The Panthers will host Silverton next Friday at 7 p.m. Last season, the owls stunned the heavily favored Panthers 3430 in Silverton. The Owls are currently 2-0, coming off wins over Petersburg (74-61) and Paducah (64-46.)