Turnovers sink Panthers against Fruitdale
By Charlie Anderson Contributing Writer

The Marengo High School Panthers traveled to Fruitdale last Friday, October 12, to take on the Fruitdale Pirates in a Region 1 battle that had potential playoff implications for both squads. Unfortunately for the Panthers four turnovers, one fumble and three interceptions, and a combination of penalties and mental mistakes made it nearly impossible for the Marengo offense to cash in on several opportunities to score inside the red zone, causing them to come up on the short end of a 7 - 0 score. The Marengo defense which played pretty well all night finally gave up the game winning points to the Pirates early in the fourth quarter on a two yard score. The drive that netted the game winner for Fruitdale was set up on a big play and two consecutive fifteen yard penaltties.

Leading the rushing attack for the Panthers in the loss was Michael Watkins with 80 yards on 19 carries followed by Ontarrio Woods with 74 yards on 11 carries, Donte Packer with 44 yards on eight carries, Quintin Watkins with 10 yards on two carries and James Bennett with seven yards on five carries.

In the air James Bennett was 3 for 11 for 19 yards with Michael Watkins taking in two passes for 14 yards and Ontarrio Woods snagging one pass for five yards.

Over on defense the Panthers were led by Kaylos Pritchett with 18 tackles followed by Jeremy Bouler with 15 tackles; Larrence Pritchett and Michael Watkins with 10 tackles apiece and Corey Noid with eight stops.

Panther Coach Scottie Jones in reflecting back at the loss didn't fault his team for their effort but laid the blame on a failure to execute and penalties. "I thought we gave a lot of effort in the game with Fruitdale," Coach Jones said. "We just made too many mistakes on offense and had entirely too many penalties. Our defense played well enough to win but we just didn't get the points when we had the opportunities."

Looking ahead to his team's match-up with Region 1 leader Millry, Jones had several observations. "We have got to put the Fruitdale loss behind us and regroup for a very good Millry team," Jones said. "They are balanced on offense with the ability to hurt us with the run and the pass. They are equally tough on defense and pose problems for our wing-t offense with their 4 - 4 package. We will need to have a good week of preparation and play one of our best games to defeat them."

The game between Marengo and Millry is scheduled for Friday, October 19 at Wildcat Hill in Millry with the kick off set for 7:00 PM.

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