Claws are out
Panthers push by Howard behind defense, Lattimore
Brainerd football coach Tyrus Ward wanted to make one final point before his Panthers traveled across town to meet rival Howard on Friday night.
Ward was tired of watching the Hustlin’ Tigers run at will in the teams’ past three meetings, so he
had his defense break down and run tackling drills prior to boarding the bus. The point was received as the Brainerd defense and senior quarterback Xiyeer Lattimore combined to lead the Panthers to a 30-13 win at Reggie White Field.
Lattimore passed for 164 yards and three first-half touchdowns as Brainerd built a 30-0 halftime lead. The defense held Howard to 119 yards on 36 carries, with 60 of the yards coming on one run late when the outcome was decided.
“Our guys are hungry,” Ward, in his fourth season in charge at his alma mater, said of his 2-0 team. “We’ve lost to this bunch for the last three years, and we’ve had to carry that with us. We’ve worked out all summer with this game in the forefront, and we wanted to come out here and get a win.
“They ran the ball down our throats the last three years. This year we put an extreme emphasis on tackling. We actually did some tackling drills before we came over here tonight, just working on the fundamentals of putting a hat on a guy and bringing him down.”
The defense, which created three fumbles, forced a threeand-out on Howard’s first possession and set the Panthers’ offense up at the 30. Four plays later, on fourth-and-4, Lattimore hit Diamond Bates for a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Akeem Cosme forced and recovered a fumble at the Brainerd 49 to end a brief Howard drive, and three plays later — plus a penalty for a Howard personal foul — Lattimore hit a streaking Montez Delaney for a 26-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
After Donivon Thomas recovered another fumble, Lattimore completed a 42-yard pass to Der’Quantis Wynn to the 2, where Jaylan Dupree scored a play later. Lattimore completed his first-half hat trick with a 59-yard stroke to a leaping Wynn moments later as the lead grew to 30.
“The speed from our receivers is great, and I knew I could get it to them,” said Lattimore, who finished with 190 yards. “It’s real nice watching them fly around.”
Ward, while concerned about some sloppiness in the final two quarters, was beaming with praise for his quarterback after the final horn sounded.
“This was a lot about Xiyeer Lattimore,” he said. “He puts us in the right place and he knows what to do. Tonight he took some bad snaps and still was able to recover and put the ball right on the mark. He’s a fouryear starter who has really taken control of our offense.
“I’m just extremely proud of these guys.”
During the second half, mostly played in rain from the remnants of Hurricane Laura, the Hustlin’ Tigers (0-1) rallied for scores on a 43-yard pass from JaCobi Dixon to Deorean Elder and Dixon’s 60-yard run.