West Lowndes starting quarterback Elijah Johnson had just been sacked as the Panthers were trying to drive down the field with just over seven minutes of game left when a timeout was taken.
Seemingly at the drop of a hat, the Panthers began to fight each other, with a few players disgruntled at how Friday night’s game against Hamilton had gone until that point.
West Lowndes was down only two scores at the time, facing a 34-22 deficit, but the internal skirmish on the field said otherwise.
It perfectly encapsulated a wild back-and-forth game between the Panthers and Lions, one that — when the dust finally settled — saw Hamilton stay unbeaten with a 41-36 victory.
“We had a bad week of practice,” West Lowndes head coach Anthony King said. “Hamilton has a great team. My team battled, but we didn’t stay focused tonight. We were very undisciplined.”
There seemed to be a battle on a few different fronts during the game, one being the actual game and the other being both teams against the referees, who seemed to be consistently inconsistent as the game wore on.
At the same time, a plethora of penalties were called, seemingly at least 30 or so overall, in a game that felt like it was dragging on at points.
That didn’t stop the offense from both teams from still performing at a high level, with 77 total points scored between the Panthers and Lions.
“This team has a lot of fight in them, and they’re very talented,” King said. “We just have to keep coaching them up every week, keep pushing them.”
West Lowndes (5-3) came into Friday’s game shorthanded and banged up, battling the flu bug the entire week going into this highly contested district matchup.
The Panthers had really taken it to Hamilton in recent games, having won the past four against the Lions before Friday.
While not at full strength, West Lowndes’ running game showed what it can do, with three rushing touchdowns coming from Johnson, including a 75-yard score toward the end of the third quarter.
Panthers running back JaQuavious Tate also scored two rushing touchdowns on the day, and the offensive line for West Lowndes was giving the Panthers chances to score throughout the game.
“Even though we didn’t have a good week of practice, we went out there and kept fighting,” Johnson said. “We still tried to keep things business as usual. We just came up a few points short.”
As impressive as the running game was for West Lowndes, it was even more impressive from Hamilton, with sophomore running back Kyzer Verner rushing for four touchdowns on the day, racking up a number of yards on the ground, including 80 or so off the first two drives alone.
Hamilton got things going early off Verner’s success and utilized a successful onside kick that the Lions recovered to their advantage.
Within 2:30 of the game, the Lions led 14-0 and despite West Lowndes answering the call, getting as close as 34-30 in the fourth quarter, the comeback came up short.
Hamilton kept scoring and the West Lowndes defense had no answers. Even when they had answers, like toward the end of the third quarter, forcing the Lions to punt, a careless mistake gave them the ball back.
A West Lowndes player accidentally touched the punt, and that Hamilton recovery directly led to a touchdown drive to begin the fourth quarter.
However, Friday is now behind the Panthers as they prepare for a matchup against Ethel next week to further improve their record in district play.
“We’re going to come in on Monday and get better,” Johnson said. “Watch film, hit the weights and just get better.”
Hamilton 41, West Lowndes 36
Hamilton (8-0) 20 0 7 14 — 41
West Lowndes (5-3) 14 0 8 14 — 36
First quarter
H — Kyzer Verner 1 run (Verner run), clock 10:54
H — Verner 4 run (run failed), clock 9:30
WL — JaQuavious Tate 7 run (Dekambi Evans Smart run), clock 8:11
H — Quatavius Blunt 6 run (kick failed), clock 4:19
WL — Elijah Johnson 18 run (run failed), clock 0:53
Third quarter
H — Evan Pounders 3 run (Parker Beasley kick), clock 4:59
WL — Johnson 75 run (Evans Smart run), clock 4:33
Fourth quarter
H — Verner 6 run (Beasley kick), clock 11:51
WL — Johnson 6 run (Evans Smart run), clock 3:50
H — Verner 40 run (Beasley kick), clock 2:00
WL — Tate 2 run (run failed), clock 0:51
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