MAXWELL, CA (MPG) – In sports its fairly common to hear the adage “its not how you start, but how you finish,” but that was exactly the case last Friday night as the hometown Panthers overcame a lackluster first quarter to comeback and earn a 35-27 victory over the visiting Weed Cougars.
At the onset though, it appeared Maxwell would have no answer for Weed’s tandem of Marcus Horton and Logan Bowles given that they gashed the Panthers for big gains in the Cougars 80-yard opening drive that resulted in the game’s first seven points.
Yet, in spite of the fact that the offense was forced to punt on its first three possessions, the Maxwell defense was finding its footing and changed the momentum of the game in the second quarter when it recovered a fumble at the Weed 24 yard line.
Just two plays later, the Panthers were back in the game after Erik New burst into the end zone from two yards out, although a blocked PAT attempt saw them still trailing 6-7.
However as he has a tendency to do, Coach Lane Davis called for an onside kick, which was recovered by Evan Mathis at the Cougar 45 putting Maxwell back in business.
From there it needed just five plays to capitalize as quarterback Noel Velazquez connected with New, who cut back against the grain and ran through would-be tacklers for a 23-yard touchdown.
Although Maxwell now held a 12-7 advantage, the Cougars weren’t going quietly and regained the lead 14-12 on a broken play in which Horton raced 53-yards down the sideline with just under three minutes remaining in the first half.
But the Panthers proved to be resilient as well, following a big return by Walter Avery on the ensuing kickoff that put the ball at the Weed 39.
From there, Maxwell worked its way inside the red zone to the eight, then aided by an encroachment penalty on the defense, saw Velazquez take it in from three yards out and then hit Tanner Vierra for the two-point conversion to put the Panthers back on top 20-14.
With a minute still remaining, Maxwell again went for the onside kick and was successful when Avery, the kicker, recovered the ball at midfield.
It was a play that Davis credited to Vierra, who told his coach that they needed to kick to the middle instead of toward the sideline.
Riding that momentum, Velazquez showed off a strong arm tossing a 49-yard bomb to Cristian Lara for the Panthers’ second score in a 12 second span.
On the night, the senior quarterback completed 10 passes for 173 yards and rushed eight times for 60 more.
However, with 47 seconds left on the clock Weed managed to close the gap, responding with a strike of its own to make the score at intermission 27-21 in Maxwell’s favor.
Despite having the wind taken out of their sails by the last second Cougar touchdown, the Panthers came out in the third quarter and answered with and eight-play, 65-yard drive that culminated with New powering his way into the end zone and Maxwell tacking on the two-point try.
New, with his not-to-be-denied mentality, turned in an impressive effort, finishing the night as the Panthers’ leading rusher carrying 13 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns in addition to his reception for another score.
Although Weed would add another touchdown in the fourth quarter, the Panther defense made two second half stops on fourth down that would ultimately keep the Cougars at bay.
Nevertheless, to ensure the victory, the Panthers needed to chew up over six minutes of clock and they did just that, putting the game on the backs of their offensive line led by Macklin Kuska and Joel Rolon.
It proved to be a good decision as Maxwell engaged in some smash mouth football driving the ball down to the one-yard line before closing out the contest in victory formation.
It was a proud moment for Davis, as he explained, “We were able to run the ball effectively on that last drive. Macklin finally got mad and we just started running behind him. Joel is a mountain of a man and no one could move him. That’s the kind of football I like.”
In addition to New and Velazquez, the offense was also helped by timely contributions from Lara, who made two catches for 72 yards and Avery, who ran for 13 yards and hauled in two passes for an additional 29.
Spearheading the defense was Connor Pearson with nine total tackles, along with Vierra, who caused a fumble and was singled out by Davis for the way he always is in the midst of the action.
Off to a 2-0 start, the Panthers have some work to do in terms of getting off to a stronger start in the first quarter and wrapping up on defense, but the potential to continue their early success is definitely there.
Tonight Maxwell makes its way to Palo Cedro to take on Redding Christian, a team still in search of its first victory.