Chris Hoffmaster wrapping up the Quinlan Ford quarterback Friday night.
Things didn’t start off so well for the North Lamar Panthers (5–2, 1–1) in their second District game of the season. However, they ended nicely as the Panthers were able to defeat Quinlan Ford (0–7, 0–2) by a score of 26–18 to even their District record at one win and one loss.
After being shut out last week in Pittsburg, the Panthers got their offense on track a little more against Quinlan Ford Friday night. North Lamar received the opening kick off and went three and out to open the game. Quinlan Ford did the same and was also forced to punt the ball.
The punt was mishandled at midfield and Quinlan Ford took over at midfield. Eight plays later, they scampered in for the touchdown. The extra point hit the upright and bounced out.
The ensuing kickoff was also mishandled by the Panthers and Quinlan Ford took over at the 20 yard line. It took the offense five plays to find the endzone and North Lamar found themselves in a 12–0 hole with five minutes to play in the first quarter.
“Bottom line is we’ve got to win the kicking game,” Coach Tim Billings said after the game. “The last two weeks we haven’t done what we needed.”
The Panthers offense finally got rolling on the next possession. North Lamar took over at their own 35 yard line. Keitron Reed gained 31 yards on three carries on the drive. However, it was a 17 yard pass play from Versache Buchanon to Jevon Franklin that put the Panthers on the board. The extra point wasn’t attempted because of a bad snap on the play.
Samaki Walker with a touchdown catch on Friday night against Quinlan Ford. Samaki finished with two touchdowns and one interception.
The next possession for Quinlan Ford resulted in a fumble in which Ashton Chafin recovered for the Panthers at the 30 yard line of Quinlan Ford. Four plays later, Versache hit Samaki Walker walker for a 14 yard touchdown pass. The extra point was missed so the score remained tied at 12.
Versache would hit Samaki for another touchdown pass late in the half. Tyler Anthony completed a pass to kicker Kris Stephens to complete the two-point conversion. North Lamar took a 20–12 lead into the halftime break.
Quinlan Ford had a chance to tie the game midway through the third quarter. After running back Johnny Solis scored a touchdown to bring them within two points, the North Lamar defense held their own on the two-point conversion attempt. Two plays later, Keitron found a hole through the line and ran 44 yards for a North Lamar touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Panthers still held onto an eight point lead at 26–18.
That would be the final score but it was thanks to the play of the defense that it remained that way. North Lamar turned the ball over to Quinlan Ford on downs with 1:50 left to play in the game. Needing 61 yards for a touchdown, Quinlan Ford quickly gained 16 yards. With a minute to play and the ball at the 45 yard line, quarterback James West threw a pass down the field. The pass fell into the arms of Samaki, who fell down to the ground and sealed the victory for the Panthers.
“We’re a good football team. We’re not a great football team,” Billings said after the game. “We played really, really good on defense. They’re averaging 24 points a game and we held them to 18, but they’re averaging giving up 40. Which if we didn’t turn the ball over, we would have scored 40.”
North Lamar will travel to Princeton next week to face the 2-0 Princeton Panthers. Kickoff will be 7:30.
By: Greg Higgins, eParisExtra
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