Panthers hang tough in scrimmage against Dalton
Two football teams expected to challenge for their respective region titles met at Bowers and Painter Field in Rossville on a muggy Friday night in the final preseason scrimmage for both teams before next Friday night’s openers.
The Dalton Catamounts, now a member of Region 6-6A and thought by some prep prognosticators to be a Top 10 team in the state’s second-highest classification, were pushed hard by the Ridgeland Panthers of Region 6-4A.
The Catamount offense scored three touchdowns in the first half of play, but Ridgeland put two scores of their own on the board and got a defensive touchdown early in the third to match the scoring output by their varsity counterparts.
The Panthers’ JV and freshmen scored twice against Dalton’s youngsters in the fourth quarter, while the Catamounts added one more touchdown.
Ridgeland’s stable of running backs put up 217 yards on 28 first-half carries. They were led by senior Skye Wilson, who made his long-awaited Ridgeland debut by rushing for 121 yards and a touchdown on nine first-half attempts.
Junior Jalyn Shel- ton had 11 carries for 46 yards, followed by senior Grayson Moore’s 44 yards on just six attempts.
Senior quarterback Ivy Boehm was 2 of 6 in the air for 18 yards, while sophomore Tanner Hill was 3 of 8 for 54 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Shelton tried one halfback pass, but his heave missed its mark.
Dalton struck first as a busted coverage in the secondary allowed quarterback J.P. Tighe to complete a 79-yard scoring pass. But late in the first quarter, the Ridgeland offense would finally put together a scoring drive.
The Panthers covered 73 yards on 12 plays with Wilson and Shelton doing the damage. They each carried the ball five times on the march, aided by a Dalton five-penalty that gave Ridgeland a first down, before Wilson pounded it in on fourth- and-goal from three yards out.
The defenses would take over for the majority of the second quarter.
Dalton halted a potential Ridgeland scoring chance with an interception inside the 20-yard line, but the Panthers were equal to the task as they forced a punt and later made a fourth-down stand at their own 18 to thwart a Catamount drive.
However, the offenses would come back to life in the last 1:27 of the half.
Dalton used a sevenplay, 59-yard drive that took 3:01 off the clock before Tighe hit Zek Cobb for a 23-yard TD pass. The Panthers would put the ball on the turf one play later and the Cats capitalized 47 seconds later as Northwestern University commitment Kyric McGowan took a 12-yard Tighe pass to the house to increase the lead with 40 ticks left before intermission.
Those 40 seconds, however, were plenty of time for the Panthers.
A 6-yard run by Shelton was followed by a 40-yard scamper by Wilson and Hill spiked the ball to stop the clock with two seconds left. Then, on the final play of the half, Hill rolled left and fired to Markeion Jones as the senior receiver made a great grab over a Dalton defender in the back corner of the end zone for the score.
Each team’s offense would get the ball for six straight minutes in the third quarter. Neither offense would put up any points, but the Ridgeland defense found a way to get in the end zone. Moore hit Tighe to force a fumble before he scooped up the loose pigskin and raced 36 yards to paydirt.
Dalton would score on a 40-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth, but Ridgeland’s younger players would put together solid back-toback scoring drives.
Calvin Dallas capped a nine-play, 65yard march with a oneyard plunge and Ryan Frost’s 6-yard run with 2:33 to play ended another nine-play, 65-yard drive.
Jordan Blackwell had 36 yards on four carries in the fourth, while Frost had 33 yards on five rushes.
“I think we played well, expect for (Dalton’s) first drive when had a bust in the secondary and gave up that score,” Ridgeland head coach Wesley Tankersley said. “We had the interception and the fumble that we lost, so we shot ourselves in the foot a few times there in the first half.
“But the kids responded well and they kept fighting. We were able to get that score at the end of the first half and came back with the defensive touchdown in the third (quarter) while the starters were still in. I think they battled hard. We’ve still got a lot of things to work on, obviously, but it was a good place to start.”
McGowan had 114 yards on 12 carries, while adding 25 yards in the air. Tighe completed 12 of 23 passes for 164 yards and two scores.
“I think we showed toughness, which is something I wanted to see, especially against a team that’s known for being tough and having a good offensive line,” Tankersley continued. “I thought we showed a lot of toughness and physicality and that’s what we’re going to need to win.”
But the most memorable moment of the night came on the final play of the scrimmage as Seth McGee, a player with Down’s Syndrome, took a handoff, found a hole off left tackle and turned on the jets for a 65-yard touchdown.
The rest of the Ridgeland team, as well as the Catamount players, raced to meet him the end zone before carrying the senior off the field on their shoulders.
“I loved it,” said the self-proclaimed Ten- nessee Vols football fan with a big smile on his face. “I really love this game and I loved scoring a touchdown.”
“Seth has been a big part of the program since I’ve been here and even before that,” he said. “He comes to practice every day and he’s a good kid. It was great to see him do a good job there at the end and it was great to see Dalton’s team get involved there too. It just shows that sports can sometimes transcend a lot of things. It was great to see our kids and their kids all celebrating.”
Ridgeland will open the regular season at home next Friday against Adairsville, a playoff qualifier in Class 3A last season.