Cabot Panthers drove three hours to play against the Bentonville West Wolverines on their home field.
After the pledge, the Bentonville West cheerleaders cheered for their players who were yet to be on the field. Once finished, the Cabot Panthers burst onto the field, ready to battle and win the game. Due to Castle Bing’s head injury from the game on August 30, Amar Togafau is leading the Panthers team this week.
Six minutes into the first quarter, both teams were at a stalemate as neither scored any points. With just two minutes left in the quarter the Wolverines bobbled the ball, giving Ian Fraser the opportunity to gain the ball and get momentum back to the Panthers. At the end of the first quarter, neither teams were able to gain a lead.
Less than one minute into the second quarter, Cooper Powell burst through the Wolverine’s defensive line, scoring the first touchdown of the game which included the extra point, earning the Panthers seven points. Shortly after, Wolverine Quencie Thompson scored their team’s first touchdown earning them six points and an additional point for making a field goal. The referees called the Wolverines’s field goal good, much to the demise of the Panther’s head coach Scott Reed, giving the Wolverines a ten to seven-point lead. Unfortunately, an injury was called on the field, giving both teams a small time-out.
With three minutes left on the timer, the Wolverines scored another touchdown and field goal, giving them the full seven points and a lead of seventeen to seven. Cooper Powell delivered the Panthers 40 yards into the Wolverines turf. With two minutes and 35 seconds left on the timer, the Panthers scored yet another touchdown and got the additional point for making the field goal.
As the second half ended, the Wolverines held the lead with the first-half score being 17 to 14.
The Panthers began the third quarter off by going on the offensive, pushing themselves into the Wolverine’s territory. Just as the Panthers scored another touchdown, yet another member of the Wolverines got injured on the field. Thankfully the player was deemed alright, but he will be sitting the rest of the game off. The Panthers scored the additional point for making the field goal, putting Cabot in the lead with 21 to 17.
However, the Wolverines quickly bounced back, moving the ball into the endzone from the ten-yard line, and scoring a touchdown in the process. After that touchdown, the Wolverines scored six points putting them in the lead with 23.
Halfway through the third quarter the Panthers broke through the Wolverines defenses and scored yet another touchdown, putting the score at 28 to 23 with Cabot in the lead. The Wolverines scored a touchdown at two minutes left, and got the field goal, giving them the extra point. The score was 31 to 28 with Bentonville in the lead.
The Wolverines started off the fourth quarter strong, with their quarterback making an amazing touchdown, earning them seven points. However, Dominic De La Torre ran 80 yards and scored the touchdown with the extra point from the field goal for the Panthers. Right before the timer hit seven and a half minutes, Joseph Bartlett stopped the Wolverine’s attempt to score a field goal by tipping the ball. With only six seconds left, the Panthers pushed the game into overtime by making a field goal to tie up the score.
Within the first few minutes of overtime, David Liddell intercepted the ball from the Wolverines, giving the Panthers the momentum they needed to score. Panthers broke through the Wolverines’ defense as they scored the final touchdown of the night. The final score of the night is 43 to 38, with Cabot as its winner.
Senior, Xander McCormick
Junior, Lauren Reilly
