Sixty-nine total points remained on the scoreboard as West Lowndes High School football coach Anthony King relieved the four losses that came before. Both Friday night’s scoreboard and the season to date didn’t suggest defense.
Yet, defense is was ultimately gave the Panthers their first win of 2018.
The 38-31 final score victory over Hamilton far from portrayed a defensive struggle, but the Panther defense did just enough in the face of adverse field position, forcing two late turnovers and scoring what was ultimately the game-winning touchdown.
“We’ve been getting killed on the road, so it’s good to get home and get a win,” King said, referencing the four losses by a combined score of 179-68. “I think the fans played a big factor in getting the kids to play all the way through, they were tired. They got some stops and we got the win.”
All the factors that make stops easy to come by were not in West Lowndes’ (1-4) favor.
For all the success the Panthers’ quick-strike offense had, it left that defense on the field for a long time, defending 65 plays compared to 31 plays run by West Lowndes. It rarely had time to build its way up to a stop: thanks to 217 kick return yards by Hamilton, 36.1 per return, only two of Hamilton’s nine possessions started at worse than its own 45-yard line. Of those nine possessions, six of them began on the advantageous side of the 50.
“Our kickoff team is very young. We don’t have enough guys, guys going both ways,” King said.
Still, the Panthers rose to the occasion.
Hamilton’s first possession started on its own 47-yard line, but tackles for a loss from Jason Harkins and Sye Pippins contained it to a turnover on downs. Sanders saved what looked like a guaranteed touchdown by stripping Hamilton’s Nathan Fast from behind; three plays later, what would have been a 49-yard Hamilton touchdown drive was a 90-yard West Lowndes scoring drive. Sanders capped it with an 83-yard receiving score.
Hamilton’s ensuing possession also started in West Lowndes territory and ultimately drove down to first-and-goal, just for sacks from Jataquist Brown and Jerqualin Morris to push the Tigers back nearly all the way to midfield.
None of it compares to Brown’s interception, the one that put the winning points on the board.
Brown described his read on the quarterback with five minutes left in the second quarter, watching him roll to his left and looking like he would keep it. As he squared up perfectly to Brown’s path, who made the catch and knew he would score.
As soon as the ball was secured in his hands and he saw an alley down the right sideline, “my eyes got big.”
That was just the boost the Panthers needed. They knew scoring would not be a problem, both based on their matchup with Hamilton and their recent improvement in that regard, having scored 38 the week prior in a loss.
King remains brutally honest about his team: he knows it is not physical enough, he knows it is no strong enough and blames that on too little time in the weight room. Yet, flashes like Brown’s interception and return give reason to look forward with promise.
“I didn’t think he was going to take it all the way, but I was glad to see it.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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