Panthers take big step toward home playoff game
The Ridgeland Panthers came into the 2019 season hoping to take care of some unfinished business and make their way back to the top of Region 6-AAAA.
Friday night at Bowers and Painter Field, they took another step toward reaching that goal.
Despite relentless rain that started hours before kickoff and barely let up all night long, the Panthers used another big night on the ground to take down defending region champion Pickens, 41-28.
The win evened up Ridgeland’s overall record at 4-4, but it gave the Panthers a 3-1 record in the region standings. They will play at Gilmer this Friday night before closing out the season at home against Southeast Whitfield on Nov. 8.
Should the Panthers win out and Northwest Whitfield lose one of its final two games, either next Friday at Southeast Whitfield or the following week at home against Heritage, Ridgeland will ascend to the 6-AAAA throne.
The Panthers delivered two crushing body blows early on. Jordan Blackwell scored on a 25-yard touchdown run on Ridgeland’s initial position and, on the first play of their next possession, Terrance Roberts found a seam and raced 92 yards for a score and the Panthers would take a 14-0 advantage into the second quarter.
The Dragons, however, refused to succumb to a knockout punch and they would get back in the game on a 30-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Streicher to Jarod Whitmore on a fourthdown play with 8:49 left in the first half, cutting Ridgeland’s lead to 14-7.
But just 23 seconds later, Blackwell found a hole in the middle of the Pickens defense and scampered 66 yards for a touchdown that