The Greenville Panthers came out blazing hot against Westminster College. As the very 1st play of the game QB George Harris threw a bomb to explosive WR Kyler Henson for a 65-yard passing touchdown! After Henson’s explosive touchdown catch the Panther offense fell into a bit of a slump throughout the 1st quarter. With about 3:00 to go in the 1st quarter, RB Paul Garrett went “beast mode” erupting for a 23-yard touchdown putting the Panthers up 14-0 after making the PAT.
The game began to become mostly defense as both teams held each other scoreless the whole 2nd quarter. Halftime came and Coach Lamar Bell gave hype motivational speeches getting both the Panther defense and offense juiced for the 3rd quarter.
The Panther offense throughout the beginning of the 3rd quarter was at a roller-coaster pace. Midway through the 3rd quarter, WR Jaden Steele brought life back into the game blocking a punt into the Westminster end-zone resulting in a safety, now putting the Panthers up 16-0. Just 2 minutes after that Harris connected with WR Eric Kranh for a 30-yard touchdown pass putting the Panthers up 23-0 with about 5 minutes left in the quarter. Right before going into the final quarter of the game freshman Garrett broke a couple of tackles making his way into the end-zone, yet again with a 39-yard touchdown giving the Panthers a 30-0 lead after the extra point made. QB Dalton Mitchell then found TE
After watching such an exciting game the Panther defense put on an amazing show completely shutting the Westminster offense down putting 0 points on the scoreboard. With so many key players on that defense, everyone played a part in that shutout. Players like senior linebacker Gavin Jordan racked in 6 tackles, sophomore linebacker, Lakari Benjamin, & junior defensive tackle, Anthony Esquivel, both pulled in solo sacks on the quarterback. Also with junior free safety Javion Smith pulling in the 1st interception of his career. After the game Offensive Coordinator, Joshua Flannery was interviewed on how he felt his offense had done now that the game was over.
Flannery said, “Overall I thought the offense had a good game but not a complete game. The positives were we hit a lot of our game day goals, we were balanced with 259 yards passing 2 TD and 233 yards rushing with 2TDs, only 1 penalty, and we responded well at halftime. Negatives were 4 turnovers, 2 of which were at the end of long drives in the red zone (we should have scored 2 or 3 more times), and too many hits/sacks on the QB. I’m happy that we stayed poised, flushed our mistakes, and finished strong. These next couple of weeks we need to focus on relentless execution so we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot.”
Defensive Coordinator Lamar Bell has coached 11 seasons. This game was very special to him as it marked his very 1st shutout in his coaching career. After the big win, Bell was interviewed and had many things to say about his Panther defense. Bell said, “I thought we did a great job responding to every situation thrown at us. After each defensive series, the guys continued to go challenge each other to be better in the next series. There was not a sense of complacency through the game which was necessary for success. Regardless of a win or loss, God must get the glory. I can’t take credit for the shut out. Our guys really played lights out! I am very proud of how they performed, so it was cool to experience the shut out with them. This milestone is not about me but much more about the hard work put in by every guy in our program.” As the Panthers move on to 3-2 in the season they have plenty of time to get ready for their next opponent going into a bye week. LET’S GO PANTHERS!
Media By Derreion Twitty
Good job Derreion and Dalton.