A solid entourage of Panthers fans traveled to Southwest Little Rock to see the Panthers beat the Gryphons, 42-26.
Cabot fans erupted quickly with joy as QB Maddox McCrory connected with Dominic De La Torre in the endzone on the Panthers’ first set of downs.
Panther Hayden Burrow was able to pick up a Gryphon fumble a few plays later at the Panther one-yard line. This momentum led Burrow to score another touchdown. Extra points were good on both touchdowns and the Panthers started off strong with a 14-point lead early in the game.
While the Panthers were adjusting their defense, the Gryphons were able to break through the line and reach their endzone, scoring a touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter, 14-7.
The Panthers bounced back with Amarius Criner getting the ball and running it back to score another Panther touchdown. The extra point was good, updating the score to 21-7, Panthers lead.
With 5 minutes left in the second quarter, the Gryphons were able to drive for another touchdown, giving them additional points on the board. The extra point was good, updating the score to 21-14.
With only seconds left on the first half-timer, the Gryphons mustered and scored a touchdown, but the extra point was no good. First half score, 21-20, Panthers leading by one.
Three minutes into the third quarter, Kaden Harmon drew from the Panther momentum in the first half to score his first touchdown of the night. The extra point was good, giving the Panthers the lead, 28-20.
Not to be outdone, the Gryphons quickly responded and ran the ball for a touchdown, however, the extra point was not good, 28-26, The Gryphons would not see the endzone the rest of the game.
With just 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Keegan Vest caught the ball in the Panther’s endzone, extending the lead to 35-26. The Panthers took that score into the fourth quarter.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, McCory ran a huge play from the 15-yard line into the Panther endzone for another Cabot touchdown. With the extra point being good, the score was updated to 42-26. Throughout the rest of the fourth quarter, both teams held each other at a stalemate with neither scoring additional points.
At the end of the night, the Panthers claimed a road victory and will go on to challenge the Conway Wampus Cats at home Friday.
