The Panthers didn’t punt during the game that they jumped out early in and didn’t let up.
EP took the opening kickoff and put a sustained drive together including 3 first downs moving deep into Charger territory. On fourth and 5 from the 24, quarterback Evan Steimle passed a quick out to Caleb Brown who raced untouched into the end zone to open the scoring. Steimle’s kick made it 7-0 just 6 minutes into the game.
After a 3 and out by Orion, the Panthers took over on their 33, put another nice drive together and Steimle found Lane Decker one-on-one in the end zone and Decker out fought the defender for the score.
The stout Panther defense continued to shut down Orion and a punt gave EP possession on their own 46.
The Panthers reached pay dirt again after a fourth down pass from Steimle to Adan Pyron got EP a first down on the 17. Two plays later Tristan Hovey drove into the end zone to make the score 20-0 at the 2:18 mark before halftime.
Orion finally got their first, 1st down of the night and two plays later Blake Arnold found Charlie Arnold open for six with :48 seconds left to make it 20-6.
The Panthers didn’t stop and scored one more time before half.Decker returned the kick to the Panther 49 for good field position. On the third play Steimle found Brown behind a defender and he gathered it in the left corner of the end zone to send the Panthers into the locker room leading 27-6.
The second half was a game of ball control. Orion took the kickoff and marched down the field using up 8 minutes before a sack by Steimle and Caleb Reymer stalled their drive on the Panther 12.
EP took over a marched down the field gathered four 1st downs all via the run and Steimle scored from 21 yards out on a dipsy-doodle run breaking tackles to make it 33-6 with 9 :22 left in the game.
Orion continued to get some first downs but a pass was picked off by Korbin Logue who returned it to the Charger 35 with 7 minutes remaining.
The Panthers were able to get some reserves some good playing time and they scored on a 5 yard run by Noah Wetzell to make the final 39-6.
Head coach Tyler Whitebread congratulated his squad after the game by saying “This was a good game all around. The offensive line did a great job for a successful running game and we came in and took care of business. Be smart the rest of this weekend, make good decisions and Monday its back to work to prepare for Rockridge. We are 5-0, enjoy the weekend!”
EP was led in rushing by Steimle with 18 carries for 140 yards. Hovey had 17-69 and 1 TD. Wetzell added 9 for 36 and 1 TD.
Steimle was 6-10 passing for 123 yards and 1 TD. Brown had 68 receiving yards and 2 TDs while Decker had 2 catches for 38 yards and 1 TD.
The offensive line of Mason Minssen, John Holland, Derek Naftzger, Breckon Sandrock and Caleb Reymer were outstanding all night long.
The 5-0 and 10th ranked Panthers travel to Rockridge Friday night for a showdown with the Rockets
