The Alba-Golden Panthers battled for four quarters and came away with a dominating 34-8 win over the Detroit Eagles in their home opener.
The Panthers hope to keep improving as they take on the Maud Cardinals on the road Friday. The Cardinals are 0-2 after losses to Rivercrest, 49-14, and Cushing, 49-6.
Things looked good early for the Panthers as they received the kickoff and promptly scored on a 70-yard run, only to have it called back. Alba-Golden didn’t let the penalty derail the effort. The defense got tough, the offense found the end zone and both lines did their jobs in the trenches.
The Panther offense broke loose under the leadership of senior quarterback Brett Sutton. Sutton also played solid defense, intercepting a pass to halt a Detroit drive.
After giving up 26 points in their opener at Linden-Kildare, the Panthers showed improvement on defense, shutting down Detroit’s spread offense and holding the Eagles to eight points. Panther defenders stopped the Eagles four times on fourth down.
“Brett is a smart, tough kid. On top of that he has the desire to win. He tries to make every play a good one. He (Sutton) can make things tough for our opponents. I’m just glad he is on our team. The senior leadership on the line, joined by younger players stepping up, has shown what they can do. The goal is still to get better every week,” Head Coach Drew Webster said.
The Panthers picked off three Detroit passes and recorded numerous tackles for loss. Late in the game, senior lineman Luke Goforth dropped the Detroit quarterback for a big sack that seemed to take the air out of the Eagles’ offensive effort and help seal the win.
Cason Boyd recorded an interception, and Daidrian Green picked off two passes to lead a stout defensive backfield. The defensive line and linebackers kept pressure on the Detroit quarterback, forcing mistakes.
The Panthers also showed their potential on offense.
“We knew we might have an explosive offense and I believe we showed that against Detroit. We had that long TD run called back because of a penalty. I was proud it didn’t bother us. We came right back with a long drive that took up most of the first quarter,” Webster said.
The Panthers raced to a 12-0 halftime lead and extended it to 18-0 before Detroit got on the board. The Eagles scored in the third quarter and added a successful two-point conversion to cut the lead to 18-8.
That would be all the offense Detroit could muster.
Alba-Golden answered with two more touchdowns. Sutton scored on a run, and the Panthers added a two-point conversion to make it 26-8 at the end of the third quarter. Alba-Golden added another score in the fourth to finish off the 34-8 victory.
Sutton completed 6 of 11 passes for 154 yards and rushed for 157, giving him 311 yards of total offense.
“Sutton ran well but we also had four other backs who each rushed for over 30 yards. For the game, we rushed 44 times gaining 333 yards,” Webster said.
The Panthers now hit the road for a trip to Maud. The 0-2 Cardinals have surrendered 49 points in each of their first two games, falling 49-14 to Rivercrest in the opener before a 49-6 home loss to Cushing last week.
Traditionally, Maud has been a solid defensive team. So far this season, the Cardinals have been searching for offense.
“Our guys are going to be prepared. They scheduled us for their homecoming game which has motivated our kids this week. We have seen their type of offense before. It is very similar to what Cooper has been running the last two years in district play. Having that little bit of knowledge helped get us prepared,” Webster said.
Webster said physical play will be a key for the Panthers.
“Our goal out there is to be the most physical team on the field. I feel like if we can do that upfront on both offense and defense, we will be successful. We are going to have a good game. They have a really mobile quarterback who knows how to run their triple option. We have to be very disciplined against the triple option, the quarterback can break loose quickly if you aren’t prepared,” Webster said.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday in Maud.