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A scoreless first quarter turned out to be the closest
Stonewall Jackson's varsity football team would come toward
catching up to Potomac as the Panthers routed the Raiders
34-7 Friday night in Manassas, dropping Stonewall to 0-2 for
the season.
Potomac quarterback Anthony Staples connected with junior wide
receiver Abdul Kanneh just over two minutes into the second
quarter for a 15-yard touchdown to get the point rally started
for the Panthers.
Stonewall's offense ended up going three-and-out on their
ensuing possession, causing coach Loren Johnson to burn a time
out before punting and leaving the Panthers with excellent field
position at their own 41-yard line.
Potomac senior running back Deante Steele pushed the ball across
midfield on the first play from scrimmage, placing the Panthers
on Stonewall's 41-yard line. Panthers junior running back Mulku
Kalokoh then busted a move right through the gut of the Raiders
defense, dodging tacklers with pure speed as he bolted toward
the end zone, putting Potomac up by a 13-0 margin.
The Raiders special team's defense did keep the game
competitive, at least momentarily, as Stonewall blocked the
point-after-touchdown.
However, the Raiders special team's offense could not provide
the same spark.
Potomac junior place kicker Eric Dobratz handled the kick off,
sending it just past the Stonewall 30-yard line. The short kick
caught the Raiders off guard, however, as the ball lobbed over
senior William DeGraw's head but not into the backfield, where
returners Trenton Berry and Damien Thigpin set up. Once it hit
the ground, the ball became live and a pack of Panthers pounced
on it, setting up first and 10 for Potomac from Stonewall's
22-yard-line.
"I felt we needed to go on and kick it short," Potomac coach
Tony Lilly said, referring to the speed and skill threat
possessed by Thigpen and all-district back Ryan Williams. "Make
them work for it because they're dangerous. You can't afford to
kick it to (guys) like those guys. Their talent level is pretty
amazing."
Johnson called for his team's second time out with about six
minutes left in the half. This seemed to have iced the Panthers
prowl, however, as Potomac picked up only two yards in two
plays, setting up third and eight.
Junior running back Darius Brent trudged ahead for seven yards
for Potomac before Stonewall junior Ricky Kyles stopped him at
the 13, setting up the fourth down.
Lilly opted for a rush and his boys executed as Brent darted to
the right side of his offensive line, dove and connected with
the orange end zone pylon at the goal line for a touchdown. A
successful PAT put Potomac up 20-0 with 5:24 left before
halftime.
The three-touchdown lead may have played a trick or two on the
Raiders' psyche; Thigpin fumbled the Potomac kickoff, though he
recovered and delivered the ball to his team's own 24-yard line.
For the next two plays, Potomac overpowered Stonewall as Panther
senior linebacker Shakir Cannon dropped Raider sophomore Drew
Supanich for a three-yard loss on the first down. The Panther
line then stuffed Williams on second down for another two-yard
loss.
Though its back was to the wall, the Stonewall offense managed
to surprise not just the Panther defense, but everyone at the
stadium too, as sophomore quarterback Breon Shelton connected
with junior John Carter for a 23-yard reception before Panther
Kanneh brought Carter down at the 42-yard line with three
minutes to go before the half.
Then, an illegal shift against Stonewall brought the offense
back 10 yards to the 32 before an 11-yard gain set up second and
nine.
Potomac and Stonewall bruised each other for the next two plays,
with the Raiders plowing forward across midfield to set up a
critical fourth and one at the Panthers 49.
Shelton kept the rock himself and pushed forward to pick up the
first down by the length of the football with 96 seconds to go
during the second quarter. Attempting to execute a two-minute
drill and move the ball 48 yards down field, Shelton passed
where he could and Williams managed to pick up a first down.
After the team's third and final time out, the Raiders raced
against the clock and the Potomac defense as part of an end zone
pursuit, managing to forge ahead to the 13-yard line.
However, luck was not on the Raiders' side. Potomac defenders
popped Shelton on second and 10 with 11 seconds to go before the
break. That caused a fumble, which was picked up by senior
defensive end Franklin Richard for the Panthers at the
18-yard-line and rushed back to the 34-yard. At halftime,
Potomac was shutting out Stonewall 20-0.
"The biggest thing right now," Johnson said of his young
quarterback, "Breon (was) in the second start of his career."
He said Potomac had been particularly effective at stacking the
box to prevent star Williams from bursting for many high-yardage
runs. And that helped to limit his impact, Johnson said.
"I just think we as a team got together and didn't do things the
right way," he added.
For most of the third quarter, the Raiders slid on a downward
spiral, and coach Johnson had to hopelessly watch his team fall
by another two touchdowns, courtesy of a Deante Steele 54-yard
gallop for a touchdown. That was followed by an eight-yard rush
by senior running back Zack Simmons that resulted in another
touchdown with just over a minute and a half remaining in the
third quarter.
The clock began to run non-stop from that point on, as the
Panthers led 34-0.
Stonewall finally put points on the board as the Raiders offense
marched 80 yards down field, resulting in a one-yard touchdown
run by Thigpen.
The then-trivial PAT put a lid on Stonewall's point total, as
the game ended with a second W in the victory column for the
blue and white and another L for the burgundy and gold. Final
score, 34-7, Potomac over Stonewall.
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