In this game, the 1-4 McKinley Panthers went to Olympia Park to face the undefeated Catholic Bears. McKinley started off with the ball at their own 20. Not able to get anything going on the first drive, the Panthers ended up fumbling the ball on their own 17 giving Catholic great field position to start the game. Starting from the red zone, Catholic tried to get their passing game going but was not able to get past the McKinley defense. After a field goal attempt was blocked by McKinley defensive end Brian Mack, the Panthers had the ball once again. However, the Panthers were not able to get any momentum going with the stout Catholic defense holding the Panthers to the line of scrimmage. After a McKinley punt, Catholic was driving with the ball capping off a 44 yard drive with a 13 yard touchdown run from Taelon Nichols. The score now 7-0, McKinley was set to get the ball back.
Once again not able to get a first down, the Panthers were forced to punt the ball back to the Bear offense. Catholic wasted no time scoring on a 32 yard run from Taelon Nichols once again. Getting the ball back, McKinley started their drive from the 20 yard line. The Panthers were able to get a first down and just as it looked as though they were putting a drive together, a mishandled snap was picked up and scored by the Catholic defense. The score now 21-0 with under a minute left in the first quarter, the McKinley offense could not find anything going and was forced to punt to end the quarter. Starting from McKinley’s 46 yard line, it only took the Bears three plays to get back on the board with a three yard touchdown run from Emery Jones.
After this score, Catholic elected to put in their second team. As for the rest of the game, the top ranked team in the state showed exactly why they are ranked as such, allowing only one McKinley first down while scoring 38 more points. The lone McKinley highlight came from a 99 yard kick return touchdown just as time expired which made the final score 66-6.
Next Game: at Dutchtown High School at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 21st
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