By Jim Butler / Chronicle contributor
Coach Mark Wattenbarger and his staff and team knew that they were taking on one of the best teams in the state in the Alcoa Tornadoes and the Panther mentor wasn't pleased with his team's overall effort. Wattenbarger commented, "We knew that they were a great team and very deep but our mistakes early just magnified how good they are. We didn't play up to our potential and we didn't fight well."
Stone turned the ball over early deep in their territory but a good defensive play and interception by Larry Breeden kept the Tornadoes out of the end zone on their initial effort. Wattenbarger said, "Larry gave us a good effort today and competed well."
Alcoa managed to get their potent offense going on their next possession and they scored their second touchdown of the game to take a 14-0 lead witth 6:01 remaining in the first quarter. Less than a minute later, following a Panther fumble, Alcoa scored again to extend the lead to 21-0 on their way to a final victory margin of 49-6.
To illustrate just how much the Panthers turned the ball over on this blustery wet day, Wattenbarger said, "We only punted the ball once in the game. The rest of the time we were turning the ball over."
Alcoa stretched their lead to 28-0 in the first period on their way to a 42-0 halftime lead.
Stone recovered an Alcoa fumble to start the third period but they couldn't capitalize and another Panther miscue on fourth down gave the opponent the ball at the Stone 33-yard line. This time the Panther defense stepped up and stopped the Tornadoes but another turnover by interception gave the ball back to Alcoa. The Panther defense again held and when Alcoa tried to convert on fourth down Stone linebacker Brandon Cole ripped the ball away from the running back and scampered 37 yards for a Panther touchdown to make the score 42-6 as the third period ended.
Stone kicked off to start the final quarter and the result was a Tornado 89-yard return for a touchdown to put the final margin at 49-6.
Wattenbarger said, "Defensively we gave a hard effort but we just didn't fight well on the offensive side of the ball. We didn't block very well."
Stone (2-7, 0-5) will now have a week off to prepare for Scott County (3-5, 0-4).
The Panther mentor said, "They run a spread offense and will throw the ball a lot and defensively they are a lot like us. It will just come down to blocking and tackling."
The winner of this contest becomes playoff eligible.
