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ERIE —
It was muddy, it was sloppy, it was hard to gain any ground. But at the end of the day, the Colgan Panthers walked out of Erie with a 36-0 victory.
Colgan used a heavy dose of V.J. Piccini and Connor Dayton to gash the Red Devils for key plays, but the star of the show on Friday was senior quarterback Dyson Dechant. Dechant was involved in three touchdowns, including two short rushing touchdowns that helped push the Panthers to victory.
The game will likely not be among the most memorable of wins for Colgan coach Chuck Smith, as both sides frequently dropped or bobbled the wet, muddy ball throughout the night. However, Colgan came out with four recovered Erie fumbles.
Even more than just the fumbles, the Colgan defense was able to give its offense a short field throughout the night, including on the team’s first drive.
Thanks to a stout defense that caused two plays for loss on Erie’s and a pair of Erie penalties, the Panthers started their first drive at the Red Devil 38. Dayton got three carries on the drive, but it was a short pass from Dechant to Piccini that turned into a 23-yard touchdown to put the Panthers up 7.
The slick ball gave Erie fits on its next drive. On the first play from scrimmage, the team was able to recover after the ball squirted past Erie quarterback Justin Hartzell. The next play, however, another fumble occurred, and the Panthers pounced on it at the Red Devil 14.
Three plays later, Connor Dayton made his way to the end zone from 10 yards out.
The fumble fingers were not just on Erie’s part, however. On the first drive of the second quarter for Colgan, both V.J. Piccini and Dechant dropped the ball. However, Piccini was able to recover in both situations, saving a drive that ended on a Colton Gilbert 10-yard run. Further echoing the slick football view was the extra point on that touchdown was bobbled, and Christian Cedeño was forced to throw. A wobbly pass did make its way to Tully Yoakam for the something-from-nothing two-point conversion.
Piccini would end with roughly 60 yards rushing, while Dayton added about 85 of his own.
Dechant would close the scoring with a 3-yard and 1-yard touchdown on the ground.
The Panthers moved to 1-0 on the season and will remain on the road next week at Baxter Springs.
Andrew Nash can be reached at andrew.nash@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 ext. 140.
It was muddy, it was sloppy, it was hard to gain any ground. But at the end of the day, the Colgan Panthers walked out of Erie with a 36-0 victory.
Colgan used a heavy dose of V.J. Piccini and Connor Dayton to gash the Red Devils for key plays, but the star of the show on Friday was senior quarterback Dyson Dechant. Dechant was involved in three touchdowns, including two short rushing touchdowns that helped push the Panthers to victory.
The game will likely not be among the most memorable of wins for Colgan coach Chuck Smith, as both sides frequently dropped or bobbled the wet, muddy ball throughout the night. However, Colgan came out with four recovered Erie fumbles.
Even more than just the fumbles, the Colgan defense was able to give its offense a short field throughout the night, including on the team’s first drive.
Thanks to a stout defense that caused two plays for loss on Erie’s and a pair of Erie penalties, the Panthers started their first drive at the Red Devil 38. Dayton got three carries on the drive, but it was a short pass from Dechant to Piccini that turned into a 23-yard touchdown to put the Panthers up 7.
The slick ball gave Erie fits on its next drive. On the first play from scrimmage, the team was able to recover after the ball squirted past Erie quarterback Justin Hartzell. The next play, however, another fumble occurred, and the Panthers pounced on it at the Red Devil 14.
Three plays later, Connor Dayton made his way to the end zone from 10 yards out.
The fumble fingers were not just on Erie’s part, however. On the first drive of the second quarter for Colgan, both V.J. Piccini and Dechant dropped the ball. However, Piccini was able to recover in both situations, saving a drive that ended on a Colton Gilbert 10-yard run. Further echoing the slick football view was the extra point on that touchdown was bobbled, and Christian Cedeño was forced to throw. A wobbly pass did make its way to Tully Yoakam for the something-from-nothing two-point conversion.
Piccini would end with roughly 60 yards rushing, while Dayton added about 85 of his own.
Dechant would close the scoring with a 3-yard and 1-yard touchdown on the ground.
The Panthers moved to 1-0 on the season and will remain on the road next week at Baxter Springs.
Andrew Nash can be reached at andrew.nash@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 ext. 140.
