Panthers Win 9th Straight Home Game
STORY BY: MICHAEL MARZZACCO
POTOMAC FALLS, VA - On Friday, September 11, the Panthers were looking to go 2 and 1 on the season, and they did just that. The week before, they lost to Martinsburg. Running back Tyler Caldwell got hurt and was out for the season. Wide receiver, Tarrell Owens hurt his knee before this Kettle Run game and couldn't play. Despite these injuries, the Panthers were still able to triumph. The atmosphere was electric at Potomac Falls High School. The home stands were packed, and the student section was as raucous as ever.
The Panthers jumped to an early 7-0 lead, after Harrison Kee caught a touchdown pass from Zack Hobby. They scored another touchdown later, when Jules Aquino scored on a pass from Hobby. They led 13-0, after a missed extra point.
One scary part of the game, in the first half, was quarterback, Zach Hobby's twisted ankle. All of the players and students in the student section took a knee. When he got up, the crowd was chanting, "Hobby, Hobby, Hobby."
Backup sophomore quarterback Kyle Bulger came in for rest of the game. Most of the second quarter and all of the third were played between the twenty yard lines, with neither team close to scoring. But Kettle Run came back in the fourth period and scored to cut the lead down to 13-7. Bulger completed some passes and ran for a lot of yards as the offense ran the clock down. And, the Panther defense held on, as Potomac Falls won a very intense game.
There were a lot of fumbles by both teams. In the second quarter, it went back and forth, but the Panthers prevailed.
Potomac Falls Coach Scott Woodlief commented," It's a win, but it's an ugly win. What we take from it is, we've got a lot of work in front of us. I think there are a lot of kids that gave everything they've got. There were a lot of mistakes, but the end result is, that we won and that is important. But, I think we need to go back and start from ground one and get working over again."
On correcting fumbles he said, "We practice every day about ball security. There are a lot of kids that are sophomores that played JV football last year. Now, we're asking them to play varsity football. They're going both ways. They're getting a little more fatigued, and at times, when you get fatigued, I think you slack on your fundamentals of what has been coached to you. I think we have got to stress ball security more in practice, and hopefully, we will get better at it."
On the close game he added, "It was a tight game, I thought the defense was playing really, really good. They held them to not many yards. The defense was pretty strong. I don't think the game was as close as the score. I think we moved the ball up and down the field. We had a couple of fumbles, here and there, and a couple of key players went down. Tarrell Owens didn't play tonight. Zach Hobby went down in the first half. Tarrell hurt his knee during pre-game. Then Tyler Caldwell broke his ankle against Martinsburg. So, you have three guys that you know in the summer are starting for you both ways, and you play a whole half of a football game without them. I think the guys jumped in and did a great job. Kyle Bulger came in, and being a sophomore, was composed. He did a great job. I think the offensive line did the best they can do."
On Zach Hobby's injury he said, "The sad thing is that last week he hurt his right ankle. Now this week, it's his left ankle. He's got two twisted ankles." Before the season started, Woodlief said the first four games of the season will really define this team. Now that they have completed three games into the four-game stretch, he said this, "I know what I knew at the start, we're very young. The one good thing about this is that it has given us some experience. With the first four games, we're playing some good football teams. Next week is going to be a tough one for us. We need to settle down and get back to what we do best. We go to Liberty next week. They're just moving down from triple A to double A, so it is going to be a tough football game. We need to get back to the chalkboard, 8 o'clock Saturday morning. We play Thursday night. We are a day short just like we were against Martinsburg. You have got to work hard as a coach and get these kids prepared faster."
So the Panthers are 2-1, after a very close and entertaining game. They will play Thursday night, September 17 at Liberty in Bealton, Virginia. Go Panthers!
