The Panthers scored on numerous big plays against the 1-6 visitors.
The game started slowly as Mercer County used a delay tactic on offense to try and keep the ball as long as possible. They stayed in their huddle until the referee started his play clock countdown and then rushed to the line to get the play off. The fact that they ran the ball 46 of their 53 offensive plays helped keep time of possession in their favor.
The Golden Eagles got one first down on their opening possession before fumbling and Panther, Cash Wolf fell on it at the EP 48. EP put a drive together and used 3 first downs to move deep into MC territory. Senior quarterback, Evan Steimle rammed it in from 2 yards out and kicked the extra point to put EP on top 7-0.
The visitors put a nice drive together that moved into the second quarter and they capped the drive with a 2-yard Eli Boswell run to tie the score at 7-7 with 8:33 left in the half.
EP came right back and scored on their next possession. Steimle faked a pass to the right and then ran to the left for 57 yards before being tackled. That set up an 8 yard pass to Lane Decker that made it 14-7 at the 4 minute mark.
Steimle tipped a pass and then intercepted it on the next possession and EP took over on the MC 23. Unfortunately, the Panthers weren’t able to capitalize and the half ended 14-7.
A nice 39-yard return by Matthew Ballard gave EP great field position coming out of the locker room and on the first play Steimle found Caleb Brown behind the defense, but an illegal motion penalty nullified the score. Both teams were stopped on their possessions and EP took over again on a second Steimle interception on the Eagle 47 yard line.
On the second play, Ballard broke through and galloped 46 yards to put the Panthers up 21-7 four minutes into the third quarter.
The Panther defense led by senior, Caleb Reymer’s outstanding game stopped the MC offense and forced another punt to the EP 43. From there Steimle found a nice hole to start and then took off on a 43-yard, tackle breaking scoring run giving EP a little cushion at 27-7 late in the third quarter.
The Eagles got on the board again as they started on their 33 and after 3 first downs Boswell scored his second time of the night and it was 27-14 in the first minute of the fourth.
Steimle quieted the Eagle comeback though as he faked a pitch to the right and ran right up the middle breaking a couple more tackles and scored from 45 yards out. His kick made the score 34-20 with 9:48 remaining in the game.
The Eagles used a 35-yard run on a fake punt to move deep into Panther territory and scored moments later to cut the lead to 34-20.
EP took over on their 35 and after a nice run and penalty found themselves on the MC 39. Steimle then faked a handoff and connected with Brown for a scoring strike which ended the scoring late in the game.
Steimle had 19 carries for 185 yards and 3 touchdowns. Noah Wetzell had 5 for 21 and Matthew Ballard 2 for 51 and 1 TD. Steimle was 6-8 throwing the ball 3 each to Brown for 54 yards and Decker for 35 and they both had 1 TD.
Head coach Tyler Whitebread was pleased with his teams effort during their last regular season home game in front of a huge crowd. “With our injuries racking up we had some guys step in and really contributed tonight. Our offense responded with some big plays and our defensive line was solid most of the night. Steimle was huge running with authority through some good holes and his passing touch was on target. Sets up a big showdown at Riverdale next week.”
The Panthers honored seven seniors in a pregame ceremony. Steimle, Reymer, Derek Naftzger, Landon Vandewostine, Adan Pyron, Triston Hovey and Evan Melton.
The showdown with Riverdale is next Friday in Port Byron.
