Varsity football defeats Robinson
For their second test of the season, the Plant Panthers traveled to Jack Peters Field to take on the Robinson Knights, who they defeated 40-6.
“We’re going to do our thing,” senior defensive back Julien Kee said before the game. “It’s Plant Panthers. You already know.”
The Panthers kicked off to the Knights at 7:30 p.m. to start the game. Robinson’s short first possession resulted in no points, and the Panthers got the ball back. After entering the red-zone, senior kicker Evan Passath starts off the scoring with 6 minutes and 33 seconds left in the first, making it a 3-0 lead with his 40-yard field goal.
With 1 minute and 49 seconds left in the first quarter the Knights were pinned deep in Panther territory. Senior defensive end Jared Valdez and junior linebacker Jackson Hacker tackled a Robinson wide receiver in the endzone for a safety.
“It felt great to be able to get that safety and it was even better that it was against Robinson since they were talking all week about beating us,” junior linebacker Jackson Hacker said via text.
Holding 5-0 lead, junior quarterback Tucker Gleason connects with senior wide receiver Leonard Parker in the endzone on a 42-yard pass. Passath’s extra point was good making the score 12-0, heading into the second quarter.
“The first two drives we struggled getting the ball in the endzone, so it felt good to get a long touchdown pass for the first of the night,” junior quarterback Tucker Gleason said, “it set the tone for the rest of the game.”
A fumble recovery by junior linebacker Jackson Hacker in the first minute of the second quarter did not result in any points. The Knights failed to put a scoring drive together after getting the ball back.
With the ball back in Panther possession, the Knights picked off Gleason’s pass, with 7 minutes and 9 seconds remaining in the half. Robinson’s quarterback then scrambled for a 23-yard touchdown. The extra point was no good, making the score 12-6.
At the five-minute mark senior running back Walter Wilbon III took it 45-yards to the house, finishing off an 80-yard drive and extending the lead to 20-6, after the two-point conversion was run in by senior quarterback Jude May.
“My favorite play was that first touchdown… when we was up 12-6, I feel like I really sealed the game for our team,” Wilbon said.
On the 1-yard line with just over two-minutes in the half, Gleason kept the ball and scored. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful, but the lead was still extended by six to make it 26-6 heading into halftime. At half the Panthers had racked up 302 yards of total offense.
Robinson kicked off to start the third quarter. The two teams traded possessions and then to cap of a 9-play 64-yard drive Wilbon pounds it in from 4-yards back, making it 33-6 after a successful extra point by Passath.
With 4 minutes and 19 seconds left in the third, the Panthers were at Robinson’s 3-yard line, Wilbon received the carry and took it in the endzone for his third of the night. They now lead 40-6.
“I felt really good about the game,” said Wilbon, “It started off pretty slow, but it ended off well for me, I went three for three cause I’m the third and I just had three touchdowns.”
The final score was 40-6 as neither team scored any more points after Wilbon’s touchdown. The Panthers improve to 2-0 on the season after a putting up 457 yards of total offense. They went 9-25 for 135 passing yards and rushed for 322 yards on 40 attempts.
The next game is versus Armwood Friday, Sept. 7, at 7:30 in Dad’s Stadium.
Juliana C • Oct 2, 2018 at 9:57 am
i like this picture. 🙂 its really cool