Panthers Tame Terriers, 36-6

The Terriers came out strong and up-tempo. The Panthers had a hard time containing senior running back Anthony Brown in the early going, but Plant receiver Austin Aikens provided the spark by hauling in a 29-yard touchdown pass that ignited the Panthers and helped them thrash the Terriers the rest of the way.

Plant quarterback James Few threw his first pass of the game right to Hillsborough junior Lilrobert Wilson to start the game. The Panthers went three and out on their next drive. Meanwhile, Hillsborough was playing fast and fierce. They drove the ball to the Plant nine yard line, but wound up missing a field goal. Anthony Brown made some tough runs, dragging Plant defenders to set up Hillsborough’s first and only score.

The Panthers brought in senior tackle Nathan Sheinle to shore up the middle of the defense. Hillsborough junior Jeremiah Green nearly scored, but junior Reeves Rodgers stuffed him at the goal line. Senior quarterback Jeremy Agrinzonis punched it in on a quarterback sneak behind his offensive line.

The Panthers answered with a field goal, but looked sluggish in the early going. It was not until Aikens made an incredible catch, reaching over the defender to haul in the 29-yarder for Plant’s first touchdown.

“We have what we call, ‘bail out’ plays, and when you have a guy that has a 40 inch vertical leap, it’s not even so much of a bail out,” said head coach Robert Weiner.

“It felt great,” said Aikens. “We had a slow start and I really wanted to make that big play, that spark.”

At 10-6, the Panthers started to exert their will on the Terriers. The defense started swarming to the ball and getting pressure on the quarterback. Junior Terrance Jenkins was in the Hillsborough backfield on several occasions.

On Plant’s last drive of the half, Aikens made yet another sick catch, a 37-yarder that brought the ball down to the eight of Hillsborough. Few was able to sneak it in behind a great push from his offensive line. It was 17-6 Plant at the half.

The Panthers picked up where they’d left off in the second half. Plant senior Tate Rodgers got enough of Hillsborough’s Brown to let a swarm of Panthers take him down in the backfield. Rodgers would also get some carries at fullback in the game - one was a big first down run of 12 yards.

“I begged for the ball for a long time, it looks like it worked,” said Rodgers.

The Panthers would score on another Few pass to junior Dereck Mann to make it 24-6. Aikens hauled in yet another circus catch for a touchdown to make it 31-6 and put the game away.

The Terriers no longer had their bite and started cramping as fatigue set in.

“We turned the ball over four times. You can’t do that with a team like Plant,” said Hillsborough head coach Earl Garcia. “We kind of self-destructed. Plant made some defensive adjustments and that was the difference.”

“I was happy with the way they stepped forward and fought through that malaise in the early going,” said Weiner.

Junior Wes Bullock only rushed for about 37 yards, but his contribution to the game was significant. In the second quarter, Bullock caught a screen pass from James Few and was absolutely lambasted by Hillsborough’s junior linebacker Nigel Harris. Bullock didn’t let it phase him and kept running hard, moving the pile and getting first downs.

“I knew they needed me to step up and keep going,” said Bullock. “Those guys are my family. I would do anything for them.”

Bullock suffered a nasty gash on his tongue on that hit as his tooth bit into it.

Few finished 7-of-10 completions for about 140 yards. He threw two touchdowns and ran for one. Aikens finished with three catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Hillsborough’s Agrinzonis ran for the only touchdown and was 6-of-14 completions for about 40 yards.

The Panthers (2-0) travel to Manatee next week for the Florida vs. New Jersey Challenge, while Hillsborough (1-1) travels to Newsome to take on the Wolves.

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