Panthers lose opener, 25-21

CHULA — The Tiftarea Academy Panthers lost their home opener Friday night by a 25-21 score against the visiting Valwood School Valiants.

With only 3:08 left to work, the Panthers took over the ball 55 yards away from the come-from-behind victory over a Valwood team who had taken a four point lead just moments before. Head coach Marvin Barton’s dream of a 1-0 start now rested on the shoulders of a tired offense.

Quarterback Wes Carter was able to find Garrett Rippy on a 11-yard reception before he let his feet take over on a sideline to sideline burst that gave the Panthers 21 yards and hope for victory deep inside the Valiants’ territory.

The Panthers moved as close as the 10-yard line with just over two minutes on the clock before inexperience made one final visit in the form of a holding call that would move them 23 yards from winning the game. After three unsuccessful attempts Carter heaved one final prayer to the endzone that fell just out of diving Payton Mann’s reach, and sent a sigh of disbelief around the Panther Pit.

Valwood only had to take a knee to ensure the victory and get head coach Brannon Tiddwell his second win in two years as the Valiants’ mentor.

“We made some big plays we just had to many mistakes,” Barton said. “I got a lot of work to do this week. I thought they were in better shape than they were and all we can do now is work harder.”

Although the Panthers failed to come up with the win, they did show promise in the early part of the game.

The Panthers took control of the ball to start the game and put together a 66-yard touchdown drive that ended with a one-yard pounce from Carter. The Panthers then went up 14-0, on a early second quarter toss from Carter to Clay Tapp.

Valwood answered in the second half however outscoring the Panthers 25-7. In the end, penalties and mental mistakes kept the Panthers out of the win column.

“We had some penalties that were just inexcusable,” Barton said. “We have got to do a better job of not shooting ourselves in the foot.”

The Panthers offense did prove that when the yellow flags were not hitting them in the back, they could move the ball.

Carter finished the day 12 of 17 passing for 150 yards and a touchdown and also found the endzone on the ground once as he put up 81 yards for the night.

Josh Woods also saw considerable time at quarterback throwing for 96 yards and a score of his own.

Tapp emerged as the go-to receiver with two touchdowns on seven receptions and 102 yards.

Defensively the Panthers were led by Don Leebern who racked up 6 tackles and three assists, and Clay Tapp who had five tackles and an assist of his own.

Though bright spots emerged from time to time for the Panthers, a lot of work awaits them in the week ahead.

“We are just going to look at film and go from there,” Barton said. “We got a busy week ahead of us and we have to focus on becoming a better football team.”

The Panthers will travel to Camilla to take on Westwood Thursday.

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