The FZN football team laid claim to the GAC Central championship last Friday night as the Panthers defeated Timberland 42 – 0. With the win, the Panthers improve to 8 – 0 on the season while wrapping up the conference portion of their schedule a perfect 5 – 0. It is the sixth straight season for the Panthers to either win outright or share a portion of the conference title. A charter member of the Gateway Athletic Conference, the Panthers have won a total of 15 conference titles, 7 under current head coach Joe Bacon, who in addition to the last six, coached the 2011 Panther squad to the GAC North title.
Against Timberland the Panther offensive continued their impressive season, racking up a total of 382 total yards. Cairo Payne proved to be the catalyst for the Panthers offense as he rushed for a season high 204 yards on just 13 attempts. Payne rushed for three scores on carries of 64, 57 and 4 yards. He also threw for two scores while going 7/10 on the night for a total of 60 yards. Izaiah Hartrup, who has been Payne’s favorite target this season, both caught and ran for a touchdown against the Wolves. Speedy Tyler Oakes was also on the receiving end of a Payne touchdown pass.
On defense, the Panthers recorded their second shut-out of the season holding the Wolves to just 105 yard of total offense on the night. The defense was led by the play of Chris Futrell, who led all tacklers with 8, Cairo Payne, Max Martin, Jalen Owens and sackmaster Parker Monnig. Monnig, who recorded 3 sacks on the night, has an impressive 20 sacks so far this season.
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This Friday, the Panthers will host Francis Howell Central in their final regular season game. District play begins November 8th. Prior to Friday’s contest, the Panthers will recognize all of the senior players and their parents. Kick-off on Friday is scheduled for 7:00 pm