COLUMBUS — West Lowndes, after two road upset wins in the MHSAA Class 1A playoffs, was playing with house money in Friday night’s quarterfinals. But even with nothing to lose, the Panthers were no match for the speed and physicality of visiting Biggersville.
The Lions scored touchdowns on six of their seven possessions and forced a running clock before halftime, ending West Lowndes’ Cinderella run with a 42-8 victory.
“Their athletes are a little better than ours,” Panthers head coach Anthony King said. “They’re big and strong and they’re fast. They’ve got a great team. My guys just ran out of gas. We really didn’t come out and want to be physical tonight.”
West Lowndes (5-7) received the opening kickoff and created an early spark as Dekambi Evans Smart picked up 20 yards on the ground on the first play from scrimmage. But the Panthers were quickly forced to punt, and Biggersville (10-1) went right to work offensively.
Jathan Hatch found all kinds of room down the right sideline for a 52-yard gain to put the Lions on the doorstep of the end zone, and Tre Gunn paid it off with a 3-yard touchdown to give Biggersville the lead less than five minutes in.
“We lost to a better team, that’s the only thing I can say,” King said. “(Gunn and Hatch) are special and their line is physical and fast. I just tip my hat to them.”
On the ensuing West Lowndes drive, Lions safety Brooks Seago intercepted a long pass from quarterback Jonivan Edwards and returned it into Panthers territory. Gunn then broke a tackle behind the line of scrimmage and was untouched the rest of the way to pay dirt for a 25-yard score and a 14-0 Biggersville lead.
West Lowndes managed one first down on its next possession, but a blocked punt again gave the Lions excellent field position, and this time they capitalized in just one play as Jayce Taylor reached to the edge and raced 29 yards for another touchdown in the final minute of the first quarter.
“We played like we were checked out,” King said. “I just appreciate the guys giving us a good season. We’ve just got to build from here.”
The big plays would continue — Hatch extended the margin to 27-0 with a 67-yard scoring run early in the second quarter. A pass interference penalty and a chunk run by Taylor set up an 8-yard touchdown pass from Drew Rowsey to Zialis Blackmon for a 35-0 halftime score.
The Panthers avoided the shutout in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Tony Ames found senior running back Gary Brewer on a deep pass for a 32-yard touchdown, and Evans ran in a two-point conversion.
“We play a lot of young kids, so that should help with the program going forward,” King said. “We battled well, but we had three key seniors who missed the season for one reason or another. They were a little beat up too, but they were just physically better than us.”
Biggersville 42, West Lowndes 8
Biggersville (10-1) 21 14 7 0 — 42
West Lowndes (5-7) 0 0 0 8 — 8
First quarter
B — Tre Gunn 3 run (Eli Nguyen kick), clock 7:10
B — Gunn 25 run (Nguyen kick), clock 4:32
B — Jayce Taylor 29 run (Nguyen kick), clock 0:50
Second quarter
B — Jathan Hatch 67 run (kick failed), clock 10:01
B — Zialis Blackmon 8 pass from Drew Rowsey (Gunn run), clock 4:43
Third quarter
B — Gunn 49 run (Nguyen kick), clock 8:45
Fourth quarter
WL — Gary Brewer 32 pass from Tony Ames (Dekambi Evans run), clock 3:49
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