COLUMBUS – Behind a stellar rushing attack and a stalwart defense, West Lowndes made quick work of Vardaman Friday night in Columbus in front of a large homecoming crowd to begin Region 3-1A competition with a 34-14 romp that lasted just short of two hours.

Quarterback Kadon Burton methodically drove West Lowndes down the field on its first possession with a series of runs, and capped it off with the 13-yard scramble for the first of his three touchdown runs. Antonio Brown provided the 2-point punch, and the Panthers never looked back. Kylan Ellis finished with two touchdown runs, and Jakylen Lucious had one rushing score.

“Our line dominated both sides of the ball,” head coach Anthony King said. “I was surprised because (the Rams) were pretty physical last week when they played in Hamilton, so we just wanted them to come out and be physical.”

Brown ran in a 1-yard touchdown to give the team a quick 14-0 lead after the failed 2-point try, and Lucious thundered through several Rams in a run up the middle midway through the second quarter for a 9-yard plunge to extend the Panthers’ lead to 22-0 halfway through the second quarter after Ellis ran in the 2-point conversion. The team also showcased its ability to throw the ball, something King wants to do more. A Rams punt left the Panthers on their own 3 yard line until a run by Ellis followed by two explosive bombs from Burton to Ellis and Antonious Hollaway got West Lowndes into the red zone. Burton finished the drive with a 10-yard burst up the right sideline.

“We took our chances. They were pressing, and when they are pressing like that we think our guys can beat them, so we just threw it up there and they came down with it,” he said. “A couple of times we got pass interference (calls), we just wanted to get them out of the box.”

While West Lowndes (3-3, 1-0) was busy scoring, its defense was pitching a shutout and forced the Rams’ offense, led by quarterback and four-star recruit Braylen Bedford, to punt on each of its five drives in the first half without picking up a single first down. That dominance continued into most of the second half where Vardaman unsuccessfully tried to convert and 4th-and-11 on its first possession.

“(The) defense played excellent,” King said. “We wanted to keep (Bedford) in the box, and we came in and pursued.”

In the second half, it was business as usual for the Panthers. Burton led the team down the field in six plays, aided by a pass interference call on the Rams, and ran in a 10-yard touchdown. Ellis ran in the 2-point conversion for their final points of the game. Defensively it was much of the same as the first half, except Vardaman found a few more explosive rushing plays and passing plays and managed to move the chains in a few instances for the first time all game. The Rams didn’t get onto the scoreboard until late in the fourth quarter when the Panthers failed to convert a 4th-and-4 with the backups in. This left Vardaman on the Panthers’ 30 and Bedford punched in a run from 12 yards out and added the 2-point conversion.

Vardaman recovered its onside kick and used the opportunity to set up a 6-yard rush from Bedford as the final second trickled to zeros.   

The victory is the Panthers’ first over the Rams in two years and snaps their two-game losing streak. It’s a win that King believes can propel them to some more good moments as region play continues next week against visiting Okolona.

“This win can go a long way,” he said. “The defense was so dominant, the offense showed prominence. We ran it like we wanted to and we threw it like we wanted to.”