Panthers top Eagles for first win

NASHVILLE — Judging by the first drive of the game for the Jennings County defense, it appeared as if it was going to be a long night against homestanding Brown County.

The Panthers offered little resistance in allowing the Eagles to drive down the field and score on a Noah Carter to Griffin Kelly 6-yard pass just 6:32 into the game. But first impressions can be deceiving. The Panthers outscored the Eagles 41-7 the rest of the way en route to a 41-13 victory.

As Jennings’ defense stiffened, the Panther offense caught fire. They scored touchdowns on five of their next six possessions while holding Brown County scoreless.

Jennings opened its scoring by answering the Eagles’ opening scoring drive. Brooks Wathen did most of the damage from the backfield. Wathen ran for 46 yards on the drive, which was capped off by a 14-yard touchdown scamper from Brandon Harris to tie the score at 6-6.

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After turning Brown County (1-1) over on downs, the Panthers (1-1) struck again. They began the drive with a Lance Bailey-to- Jared Corya 38-yard pass play. An unnecessary roughness penalty on the Eagles tacked on another 15 yards to move the ball to the Brown County 28 yard line.

Following a holding penalty, which out Jennings in a third-and-20 hole, Wathen struck again. He took a handoff and ran 34 yards to make it first-and-goal from the 4. From there, Wathen punched it into the endzone to give the Panthers a lead they would not relinquish.

Jennings even got a bit creative in finding ways to score. With 3:22 left in the first half, Bailey took a snap and quickly pitched the ball to Owen Deaton. Deaton then promptly threw a perfect pass to a streaking Corya down the left sideline for a 52-yard touchdown pass.

The Panthers closed out the half with a Bailey-to-Dylan Elkins 43 yard pass that found the endzone, giving them a 27-6 halftime lead.

Elkins began the second half just as he ended the first half, catching his second touchdown pass of the night, a 26-yarder from Bailey for a commanding 34-6 lead. A late touchdown run by Levi Peacock put the finishing touches on the victory.

“I thought the kids did a great job. After the Batesville game (a 40-0 loss), we went back to work on fundamentals. We need to block and tackle, and that is what we did tonight,” Jennings coach Rick Zimmerman said. “We thought we could wear them down up front and that is what we were able to do. We were able to run the ball really well, which made our play-action pass work.”

Brown County coach Randy Minnier also reflected on the game.

“That was an old fashioned behind whipping tonight,” he said. We had some things go against us, and we didn’t play as well as we should have. We did some good things and a lot of bad things. We got pushed around a bit, but we will work hard to come back and get better.”