On a perfect night for football, the stage was set Friday for a brawl when the Wolfe City Wolves came to Panther Stadium. The visitors went home with a 28-21 win, despite a Panther team which gave the hometown fans an incredibly-exciting 4th quarter. 

The source of that excitement came from one play: an 83-yard kick-off return from Gavin Parker. His return was a textbook example of smart, hard running. 

Wolfe City had just taken a 28-7 lead with 4:36 remaining. The deep kickoff was taken by Parker on the fly. He had to sprint to the southwest corner of the field to make the catch on the numbers, then turned up field and saw a mass of bodies converging in front of him. 

He cut back to the center of the field, and with a nice cut to the left, ended up past the large melee. Parker accelerated up the home sideline and in an amazing move, influenced the remaining Wolfe City tackler by angling his body first toward the middle of the field then back to the sideline. It was enough to put the tackler off balance, and Parker raced to the end zone. 

That score prompted a flurry of activity. Although Wolfe City covered the ensuing on-side kick attempt, Peyton Dickinson snagged an interception with just over two minutes to play. 

From midfield, quarterback Easton Campbell found Wyatt Sutton on a straight go route with an exceptionally well-thrown ball. Sutton caught it in stride and scored. With 1:28 to play the score tightened to 28-21. 

A clever attempt to get the kickoff into Hallman’s hands just beyond the front line of the kick receiving team just missed. Wolfe City ran out the clock.  

It was the first two quarters which were the Panthers’ undoing. Alba-Golden struggled to get consistent production against an active Wolves defense. The five first-half possessions generated two punts, a turnover-on-downs, a fumble and an interception. 

The first-half turnovers did not directly impact the scoreboard, as Wolfe City recorded their two first-half scores on the first two possessions of the game following Panther punts.

The Wolves moved 64 yards and opened the scoring with a tough catch of a flag route in the end zone. The catch was strongly contested, but the Wolves receiver made a great play on the ball.

Following a Panther punt, Wolfe City churned out one first down to reach midfield, then hit a beautiful post route for their second score. With 1:29 left in the opening quarter, Wolfe City led 14-0.

In the second quarter, the Panther defense began to sharpen, forcing the first Wolfe City punt.  

Alba-Golden embarked on one strong drive, moving 49 yards from their own 10-yard line. Dickinson and Hallman were able to exploit some gaps in the Wolves’ line for significant yards. An interception killed the drive with a minute left.

The Panthers geared up for the second half. They scored on their opening possession after recovering an on-side kick. Wolfe City answered the score to go up 21-7. 

The balance of the second half involved an exchange of turnovers. The Panthers lost two fumbles and a turnover-on-downs, the Wolves three interceptions and a fumble. With the exception of Dickinson’s interception, neither team could make immediate use of them. 

The visitors’ longest drive of the night (5 plays, 70 yards) put Wolfe City up 28-7 and prompted the late fireworks ignited by Parker.  

Parker had a great game, adding an interception and defending a long pass in the end zone. He and Dickinson chalked up a number of big plays. Dickinson added a 24-yard scoring run and an interception. Sutton also recorded an interception. 

There are three dates left in the regular season campaign – Friday at Rivercrest, Oct. 20 hosting Como-Pickton and Oct. 27 at Cooper.