Mistakes Costly in Loss to Panthers
The Phillipsburg Panthers bested the St. Francis Indians in a very close contest on Greene Field September 11th. The Indians played well in the game, but a few key mistakes proved to be the difference in the outcome. St. Francis lost three fumbles and an interception to the Panther defense.
St. Francis scored on the third play of the game on a 2 yard run by Cody Sherlock. The touchdown was set up by a 76 yard run by Trent Raile over the left side. The conversion attempt was not good, but the Indians had an early lead 6-0.
Later in the first quarter, St. Francis fumbled the ball on their own 4 yard line following a Phillipsburg punt. Phillipsburg scored three plays later to tie the game at 6-6 with 6:20 remaining on the clock (conversion no good).
On their next possession, St. Francis completed a long, sustained drive with a Matt Raile touchdown with 0:03 remaining in the first. The drive began inside the St. Francis 25 yard line and included a first down pickup on the Indians 31 yard line on 4th and 1. The conversion attempt failed giving the Indians a 12-6 advantage.
In the second quarter, Trevor Smith scored for the Panthers on a 60 yard run around right end. The conversion pass was good and the Panthers led 12-14.
The Indians did not react well to a Panther squib kick and Phillipsburg recovered the kickoff on the Indian 31 yard line. The Indians dug deep and came up with several big defensive plays to slow the Panther momentum. The Panther drive stalled on the SF 30 yard line with 8:34 remaining in the second quarter. Phillipsburg also dialed up their defense and the next Indian possession netted 1 yard in 3 plays. St. Francis punted to the Panthers and again the Indian defense made the Panthers punt the ball back. On the next SF possession, the Indians moved the ball some, but the drive stalled on the Panther 42 yard line with 1:52 left in the quarter. Phillipsburg led at halftime. 12-14.
With 9:00 left in the 3rd, Trent Raile scored his second touchdown of the night on a 73 yard scamper around the left side on the Indians first play from scrimmage. Raile also ran for the conversion points to give SF a 20-14 lead. Phillipsburg soon answered with a TD with 7:01 remaining in the third (conversion pass good) to retake the lead 20-22.
The Indians next possession was snuffed when the Indians failed to convert a 4th down play on the Phillipsburg 40 yard line. Phillipsburg advanced the ball to the SF 26 but were stopped by the Indian defense with 0:32 left in the third. The Indians fumbled the ball on their first play of the possession but recovered.
With 11:40 in the fourth quarter, St. Francis again fumbled the ball. Phillipsburg recovered on the Indian 21 yard line. Matt Raile intercepted a Panther pass on the 5 yard line and returned it to the 8, but the play was nulled by a roughing the passer penalty on the Indians. The Panthers inherited a first and goal just inside the 10 yard line. Phillipsburg scored on 4th down from 2 yards out (conversion no good) to take the lead 20-28.
St. Francis was forced to punt the ball back to the Panthers after a short possession. The Panthers inherited the ball at their 31 yard line, but were also forced to punt. With 5:14 remaining, the Indians gained the ball on the Panther 15 yard line. The Indians moved the ball well, but again fumbled the ball to the Panthers on the Phillipsburg 40 yard line with a little over 2 minutes remaining. The Indians stuffed the Panthers attack and forced them to punt the ball back with 0:41 remaining in the game. Drew Zweygardt blocked the Panther punt and recovered it on the Panther 33 yard line. St. Francis advanced the ball to the Panther 8 yard line, but the Panthers intercepted an Indian pass with 0:12 remaining to seal the win.
The Indians will play the Goodland Cowboys in Goodland on Friday, September 18, at 7:00 PM.
