The Alba-Golden Panthers went down in defeat to the Honey Grove Warriors 38-12 last Thursday.  

The Panthers left two great scoring opportunities begging in a very closely-played first half. Honey Grove then controlled the clock in the second half and generated three long scoring drives to settle the contest.  

The Panthers stumbled out of the blocks as their first two possessions went 3-and-out. Honey Grove found the right edge of the Panther defense and went up 8-0 in their first possession.  

With Honey Grove driving in Alba-Golden territory, Panther Michael Gaskill made an outstanding play on fourth down to force Honey Grove to turn the ball over on downs. His play kick-started the Panthers.

Two pass completions from Blake Weissert to Boedy Baker and two hard runs by Ryan Jackson quickly moved the ball to the Warriors 4-yard line. On a first down from the 4, Alba-Golden lost a fumble near the goal line. 

On the first snap of the ball, Honey Grove broke a run straight up the middle. The runner split the defense and raced 97 yards for a score. The turn of events made the score 16-0 with a minute left in the opening quarter. 

The Panthers were not deterred. They quickly drove into Warrior territory but lost a second fumble at the Warrior 33-yard line. 

Visibly frustrated, the Alba-Golden defense rallied. Baker made a great stop behind the line of scrimmage to force a Honey Grove punt. 

Baker then rambled 60 yards on the best run of the night to put the offense at the Warrior 10-yard line. Jackson scored two plays later on a nicely executed cross-buck action. 

Honey Grove came back with a 10-play drive. The Panther defense bowed up and forced a turnover on downs late in the half. 

At the break the score stood 16-6, Honey Grove. 

The teams exchanged scores coming out in the second half.  The Panther offense had its best drive of the game. Crisp blocking opened lanes for Baker, Jackson and Glenn Hartley. Jackson carried the ball into the end zone on a draw through the left side. The score narrowed to 24-12. 

It was the high water mark for Alba-Golden. 

Honey Grove burned up most of the remaining game time with a two long scoring drives of 65 and 70 yards. Alba-Golden possessed the ball only once more before the final horn sounded.  

The Alba-Golden 2020 campaign has begun a unique turn. Remaining varsity games are Wednesday, Oct. 28 vs. Como-Pickton, Monday, Nov. 2 vs. Celeste and Saturday, Nov. 7 at Cooper.