Panthers Beat Jesuit in Opener, 34-20

In October of 1066, William Duke of Normandy invaded England. Legend has it that when he stepped off the boat onto the beach, he fell flat on his face. This of course was a bad omen in those times and rumor spread that they might lose the upcoming battle with Harold and his Saxon warriors.

Well, he didn't. William bounced back and defeated Harold with a sound use of his skilled warriors and tactics.

Last week when coach Robert Weiner came out of the tunnel, he stepped off the pavement onto the field and blew out his knee. The Panthers went on to get mauled by Christopher Columbus 35-7 in their preseason debut.

Well, they bounced back this week and beat the Jesuit Tigers 34-20.

The Panthers jumped out to an early lead. They ran their hurry up offense after stopping Jesuit on their first possession. Senior quarterback James Few made a couple nice completions to senior Austin Aikens to get the chains moving. Then, senior Paris Bostick broke a 40-yard touchdown run off right tackle, Nathan Sheinle. 6-0 Panthers after a missed extra point.

The Panthers had senior center Johnathan Haney and senior Joseph Canella back in the starting lineup this week. The group worked much better together and were getting push instead of pushed this week. 

In the second quarter, Weiner went deep into the playbook and called a wide receiver reverse option pass. Sophomore Alex Jackson went in motion and caught a pitch from James Few. Jackson might have run it, but he must have seen senior Danny Caselli slicing up the seam. Jackson hurled it downfield and Caselli zeroed in on it, brought it in and down to about the 20 of Jesuit.

The next set of downs is where Bostick would go down with an ankle sprain. Junior Wesley Bullock stepped in and helped the Panthers push their way into the end zone. An attempted two-point conversion failed. It was 12-0 Panthers.

On Jesuit's last possession of the half, they finally put it together. The got help from a pass interference penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that negated a nice sack by senior Patrick Wright and Mike Tate. A tough run by Jesuit's Parker Clonts, where he ran over senior David Lerom for the touchdown, got them on the board. Jesuit’s two-point conversion attempt failed, 12-6. 

Jesuit had gone for an onside kick just before the half had expired, so the scent was in the air. When they tried it to start the second half, the Panthers were ready. They had the hands team in and recovered it at the 50 yard line. 

With Bostick on the sideline on crutches, senior Antonio Crawford stepped in and just about took over the game. Bostick was doing great, but the line was really staying with their blocks and helping all three backs push the pile and stretch out outside runs. Four runs strung together put Crawford in the endzone from eight yards out. The Panthers went for one and they got it, 19-6.

"I do for the team, whatever coach asks me to do," said Crawford.

The Tigers answered by popping a Kyle Strats run 80 yards, to the Panther 12 yard line. This was pressure spot number one. Jesuit need to score, at the very least a field goal. The Panthers won the spot by forcing a fumble that was recovered by David Lerom, who stepped in at free safety after Bostick came out. 

The offensive line began to take control of the game. Wes Bullock was moving the pile, Crawford was cutting it up. Even senior Mike Tate got a seven yard carry. They finished with 262 rushing yards as a team. Only when the Panthers dropped back to pass did Jesuit's Tony Torres burst through the line and sack quarterback James Few did the drive stall.

On Jesuit's second possession of the second half, they closed the score up to 19-13 on a touchdown catch by Aaron Paulsen.

The Tigers got the ball back, but time was running out. They went for it on fourth-and-25 only to have David Lerom pick it off.

"We knew what they were going to do, we just dropped back into coverage. It was a great play for the whole defense," said Lerom.

The Panthers got it back and again sprung Wes Bullock who scampered for a 48-yard touchdown. Again, Weiner went into the playbook. He called a two-point conversion where both quarterbacks junior Aaron Banks and James Few lined up. The snap went to Banks who usually runs, but instead he pulled up and hit a wide open James Few for the two-point conversion, 27-13.

Jesuit could have just gone away but they didn't. They were dazed, but not out of it.

With under five minutes to play, Travis Johnson made a huge catch, and brought it down to the Panther seven yard line. Quarterback Tommy Eveld, who ran pretty well Friday night, scrambled in from eight yards out. The extra point made it a tight 27-20 game.

The knockout blow came on a stretch left run with Antonio Crawford.

"We wanted to go for it all on one play," said Crawford. "As a running back you have to use vision and patience; I just wanted for the hole to open up and cut it up field."

Crawford would take it to the house on a 53-yard run to ice the game for the Panthers. Crawford would finish with 135 yards on just eight carries, with a pair of touchdowns to go along with it. Wesley Bullock carried 13 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Paris Bostick had just two carries but for 44 yards and a touchdown. 

James Few, looked much better this week, completing seven of his ten passes for 83 yards. 

Mike Tate played very well defensively, making several key stops and converging on several of the Panthers sacks. He and Drew Madhu finished with seven tackles.

"We remembered what it was like to have fun playing football this week," said Weiner. "We had fun playing football tonight."

The Panthers move to 1-0 on the season and travel to to take on the Terriers next Friday.

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