The Greenville Panthers football team strikes again, beating Crown College 32-6 for their third straight win. The Panthers now have a record of 5-2 and hope to keep this winning record for the remainder of the season. Coming into the game, Crown College was undefeated at their home turf and they had a lot of momentum heading into this matchup. The Panthers planned to run the ball the whole game as the wind blew 8 miles per hour. This was a big factor in the passing game. The first three drives for the Panther offense were a three and out. After a bad first three drives for the Panthers, coaches helped the players to regroup and make some corrections. On the fourth possession for the Panthers, they finally punched it in with handoff to Christian Moss for 16-yard touchdown run. The Panthers struck first with a touchdown and remained in control.
For the Panthers’ offense, they relied heavily on the running game as they had a total of 247 rushing yards. Paul Garrett led the team rushing 193 yards. The Panthers averaged 5 yards per carry off of a total of 49 run attempts. Senior quarterback George Harris threw for 85 yards for 2 touchdowns with a completion percentage of 32%. Harris acknowledged that the weather conditions made it really tough to put the ball in the air. “The wind played a big role in the passing game and made it tough for us, but we made it count when we needed to make plays,” said Harris. Kyler Henson led the game in receiving yards with 3 receptions for 47 yards. Isiah Ibarra and Robert Regans both had one reception, each one counting as Harris’ 2 touchdown passes.
On the other side of the ball, the Panthers’ defense played outstanding as they only allowed Crown to score 6 points throughout the entire game. The defense flew around all game and made big plays, forcing Crown to turn the ball over 7 times. Defensive players De’Shon Wellington, Brock Bullar, Gavin Jordan, Ashton Moultrie, and Jacob Hutchinson all had interceptions in the game to contribute in a big win against Crown. The Panther defense also forced two fumbles and recovered them.
Overall, it was a big win for the Panthers making them 5-2 on the season and making a complete turnaround compared to the previous season. Last year, their finishing record was 3-7. The Panthers’ win over Crown College gave the Panthers some momentum going into the next week as they took on the MacMurray Highlanders. Last season, the Highlanders came on top with a victory over the Panthers with a final score of 27-20 on the Panthers’ homecoming day. The game came down to the very last play and the Highlanders were able to pull it off to prevent the Panthers from scoring a touchdown to tie the game. For the remainder of the 2019 season, the Panthers hope to rewrite the history books and once again come out with some more victories.
The Panthers’ next appearances will be:
Saturday, November 9th vs. Iowa Welseyan
Saturday, November 16th vs. University of Minnesota-Morris.
Media by Mike Buckhanna.
