Whampum: Panthers pound Indians, 48-7
The Ridgeland Panthers rolled up 103 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns on Friday night.
And that was just on their first three offensive snaps.
The rest of the game featured more of the same as the Panthers simply overwhelmed the Chattooga Indians, 48-7, in a non-region contest at Little Big Horn in Summerville this past Friday night.
Ridgeland’s speed was on display all evening long as they racked up 444 yards of their 474 total yards on the ground. Twelve different backs combined for 37 carries. All finished with positive yardage and eight had 30 yards or more. Quarterback Ivy Boehm attempted just five passes, completing two, for 30 yards.
After a fourth-down sack by Derayl Helton in Ridgeland territory snuffed out Chattooga’s opening possession, the Panthers went to work and went to work quickly.
Grayson Moore went for nine yards on Ridgeland’s first play. On the second play, Markeith Montgomery took the ball on an end sweep, shredded a tackler and raced 53 yards for the score. Conner Middleton, who went 7 for 8 on extra points during the game, made it 7-0 with 7:37 left in the opening quarter.
Following a punt, Moore took a jet sweep to the right, took off down the sideline and bulldozed a defender before crossing the goal line to make it 14-0 just 2:01 later. And the rout was on. The Panthers’ third drive of the quarter lasted six plays, capped by a 29-yard TD run by Jalyn Shelton. Ridgeland forced another Indian punt and Moore went 69 yards to the end zone on the first play to add to the lead early in the second quarter.
Ridgeland would get two more possessions in the first half and both would end the same way the previous four did — in the end zone. Tanner Hill ran it in from four yards out just one play after he scampered 38 yards and a seven-play, 65 yard-drive ended with an 18-yard scoring run by Gabe McDonald with 1:11 left before halftime.
The Panther defense also came up big on Chattooga’s final two possessions. Skye Wilson and Luke Edwards teamed up for a fourth-down sack, and an 11-yard loss, after the Indians had driven to the Ridgeland 26. Montgomery later intercepted Chattooga quarterback Isaac Foster with six seconds left before intermission.
The second half, which was played with a running clock, saw two more solid drives by the Panthers with the majority of the starters on the sideline for the rest of the night.
A 12-play, 63-yard march was capped with a 2-yard run by McDonald late in the third to make it 48-0 and the Panthers went on a 10-play drive, starting at their own 37-yard line, in the fourth, only to see it fizzle out at the Chattooga 31.
Chattooga finally got on the board against Ridgeland’s defensive backups with 10:17 left in the fourth as Foster plunged in one a 1-yard dive with C.J. Martin adding the point after.
Cyron Burse ended an outstanding game for the Ridgeland defense by picking off Foster once more on the night’s final play.
Moore went for a careerbest 119 yards on just three carries, while Montgomery, Shelton, Hill and McDonald all went for 40 or more. Desmond Johnson (39 yards), Caleb Figgures (37 yards) and Jordan Hughley (30 yards) added to Ridgeland’s big rushing total.
Isaiah Foster carried 22 times for 155 for the Indians (1-2).
Ridgeland (3-0) will have this Friday night off as they begin preparing for their Region 6-4A opener at home against Northwest Whitfield on Sept. 23 in a game that could have playoff implications.