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PITTSBURG —
The St. Mary’s Colgan Panthers found out a little bit more about themselves Thursday night after their 23-12 win over Anderson County at Hutchinson Field, a game impacted by wind rather than driving rain and the muddy playing surfaces of the first two weeks of high school football.
For the first time in three games, Colgan played from behind as the Bulldogs gained a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Jack Rickabaugh to Zach Hilliard, taking advantage of a busted coverage leaving Hilliard wide open down the field.
Colgan responded with 23 unanswered points and the Bulldogs did not score again until late in the game.
“Anderson County’s a nice football team,” Colgan head coach Chuck Smith said. “I thought tonight’s game was very evenly-matched. I thought they had a good team and like I said, we’re a lot alike. Neither one of us are oversized and I thought it was a very good football game. The score showed that at halftime (6-6 tie) and they’re well-coached. I thought they were ready for us and defended us very well.”
Going into the wind, Anderson County decided for an onside kick to start the second half and Rickabaugh pooched one, catching the Panthers offguard. Sophomore defensive end Ian Duncan recovered the ball at the SMC 41.
“That was big,” Smith said. “Our kids, I don’t think they knew what was going on there. It was right above their head and they should have fair-caught it probably but the recovery was big. If we hadn’t gotten that, who knows what could have happened. It might have changed the whole situation. A big recovery, and just a good win for the offense and the defense.”
The Panthers went ahead 13-6 on the subsequent 4-play, 59 yard scoring drive. Senior running back Conner Dayton gained all 59 yards on three carries, highlighted by a 44-yard touchdown run, the longest run of the night.
Colgan built on its lead with the help of second-half fumble recoveries by linebackers Christian Cedeno and C.J. Russell.
“Our defense is our strength,” Smith said. “I really feel like we’re going to win because of our defense and like you said, they gave us opportunities and they paid off for us.”
Aaron Twarog booted a 25-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and V.J. Piccini tacked on a 2-yard TD run as the Panthers capitalized on the Russell fumble recovery for a 23-6 advantage with 4:11 remaining in the contest.
The St. Mary’s Colgan Panthers found out a little bit more about themselves Thursday night after their 23-12 win over Anderson County at Hutchinson Field, a game impacted by wind rather than driving rain and the muddy playing surfaces of the first two weeks of high school football.
For the first time in three games, Colgan played from behind as the Bulldogs gained a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Jack Rickabaugh to Zach Hilliard, taking advantage of a busted coverage leaving Hilliard wide open down the field.
Colgan responded with 23 unanswered points and the Bulldogs did not score again until late in the game.
“Anderson County’s a nice football team,” Colgan head coach Chuck Smith said. “I thought tonight’s game was very evenly-matched. I thought they had a good team and like I said, we’re a lot alike. Neither one of us are oversized and I thought it was a very good football game. The score showed that at halftime (6-6 tie) and they’re well-coached. I thought they were ready for us and defended us very well.”
Going into the wind, Anderson County decided for an onside kick to start the second half and Rickabaugh pooched one, catching the Panthers offguard. Sophomore defensive end Ian Duncan recovered the ball at the SMC 41.
“That was big,” Smith said. “Our kids, I don’t think they knew what was going on there. It was right above their head and they should have fair-caught it probably but the recovery was big. If we hadn’t gotten that, who knows what could have happened. It might have changed the whole situation. A big recovery, and just a good win for the offense and the defense.”
The Panthers went ahead 13-6 on the subsequent 4-play, 59 yard scoring drive. Senior running back Conner Dayton gained all 59 yards on three carries, highlighted by a 44-yard touchdown run, the longest run of the night.
Colgan built on its lead with the help of second-half fumble recoveries by linebackers Christian Cedeno and C.J. Russell.
“Our defense is our strength,” Smith said. “I really feel like we’re going to win because of our defense and like you said, they gave us opportunities and they paid off for us.”
Aaron Twarog booted a 25-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and V.J. Piccini tacked on a 2-yard TD run as the Panthers capitalized on the Russell fumble recovery for a 23-6 advantage with 4:11 remaining in the contest.
“Big kick on that field goal by Aaron Twarog,” Smith said. “I thought that was really a big play in the game.”
Colgan outgained Anderson County 254-46 on the ground, led by the career-high 189-yard performance of Dayton. Piccini made a couple big second-half runs — a 16-yard run for a first down and his 2-yard TD plunge.
Drew Dawson spelled Dayton and contributed 46 yards on six carries; his biggest play was a 22-yard reception on a fourth-and-7 play with 5:10 remaining before halftime. Dawson ran down to the Anderson County 1 on the screen pass and quarterback Dyson Dechant sneaked in for the first Colgan score one play later.
“Conner had a nice game and I thought Drew Dawson came in and filled in for him real well,” Smith said. “Piccini’s a good back. I just like all our kids. They play hard and they’ve done everything we’ve asked of them. I think they’re only going to get better.”
Colgan (3-0) hosts Frontenac next week, a game that will be televised on statewide television. Anderson County falls second in a line of five-straight Class 4A opponents for Colgan — Baxter Springs, Anderson County, Frontenac, Girard and Columbus — before district play.
Anderson County (Pioneer League member) drops to 1-2.
Thursday night was the first gridiron meeting between the schools.
PANTHERS 23, BULLDOGS 12
AC 0 6 0 6 — 12
SMC 0 6 7 10 — 23
Scoring summary
AC — Zach Hilliard 59 pass from Jack Rickabaugh (run failed) 10:55 2Q
SMC — Dyson Dechant 1 run (kick failed) 4:33 2Q
SMC — Conner Dayton 44 run (Aaron Twarog kick) 10:38 3Q
SMC — Aaron Twarog 25 FG 11:11 4Q
SMC — V.J. Piccini 2 run (Twarog kick) 4:11 4Q
AC — Cale Hedges 1 run (run failed) 41.6 4Q
Team statistics
AC SMC
First downs 11 15
Rushing yds. 46 254
Passing 10-17-1 5-13-2
Passing yds. 207 65
Total offense 253 319
Penalties-yds. 6-40 5-40
Fumbles-lost 2-2 1-1
Individual statistics
RUSHING — AC, Weston Gilbreth 11-31, Cale Hedges 5-22, Zach Hilliard 5-10, Steve Dial 1-(-1), TEAM 1-(-4), Jack Rickabaugh 5-(-12). SMC, Conner Dayton 24-189, Drew Dawson 6-46, V.J. Piccini 7-29, Colton Gilbert 1-5, Dyson Dechant 8-(-15).
PASSING — AC, Jack Rickabaugh 10-17-1-1-207. SMC, Dyson Dechant 5-13-0-2-65.
RECEIVING — AC, Eric Small 4-67, Zach Hilliard 3-99, Steve Dial 2-29, Weston Gilbreth 1-12. SMC, Nate Grimaldi 3-38, Drew Dawson 1-22, Drew Casey 1-5.
