INMAN, S.C. – Coming off a thrilling road win last week, the Chapman Panthers returned to Panther Stadium for the final non-region tilt of the campaign against the Union County Yellow Jackets. On this night, the Panthers struck early and often en route to a 57-14 victory over the Yellow Jackets.
Union County drew first blood just over 90 seconds into the contest on an 11 yard Cam Owens touchdown run. However, it didn’t take long for the Panthers to answer. Chapman dropped back into punt formation on its opening drive, but Coleman Gray took the direct snap and sprinted 80 yards down the far sideline, tying the game at seven with 9:09 left in the opening frame. Less than three minutes later, an eight yard touchdown run by Gray capped off a six play, 45 yard drive to put the Panthers in front, 14-7. Following a Yellow Jacket punt, Chapman punctuated a tidy five play, 70 yard drive with a swing pass from Gray to Bennett Smith for a 36 yard touchdown, creating a two-score lead for the Panthers. “The season is three steps,” said Chapman head coach Harry Cabaniss. “There’s non-region and you want that to prepare you for the second step (region play). That second step should hopefully set you up for the third step to make a run (in the playoffs).” A third down sack by Jory Aho led to another Yellow Jacket punt and set up an 80 yard touchdown pass from Gray to Shawn Cunningham, along with a Hudson Moss two-point conversion. Nearly seven minutes later, Cunningham weaved his way through traffic for a 65 yard punt return touchdown with 5:22 left in the half for a 36-7 Chapman lead. A 51 yard pass from Gray to Colton McPeters set up a four yard Mathai Scott touchdown run, which was followed by a 30 yard touchdown pass from Gray to Scott on the next offensive series with 27 seconds left in the half. Four minutes into the third quarter, Shamon Black took a pass from Josiah Moore around the right side for a 25 yard touchdown. Union County scored in the latter stages of the game on a 15 yard pass to provide the final margin. Nine different players recorded at least one reception for Chapman, which also included Peyton Hodge, Matt Waldrop, and Hudson Moss. “We did get everybody in (the game) tonight,” Cabaniss stated. “These guys work hard. There’s a lot of guys that work their tails off for us Monday through Thursday, that you may not necessarily see on Friday nights. Anytime that you get to see them on the field is a good night.” “We’ve just got to continue to get better. We’ve been preaching all season long about how good we can be next week… We have to keep the intensity at practice that we’ve had this past week. I’m excited to get back to work on Monday with these guys after we celebrate this one.” Gray completed 10 of 13 pass attempts for 268 yards and three touchdowns, along with four carries for 102 yards and two scores; Moore was 4-for-4 for 63 yards. Cunningham caught four passes for 120 yards and a touchdown, finishing with 185 all-purpose yards on the night. Chapman (5-1) will travel over to Greenville County to open Region 3-3A play against the Carolina Trojans on Friday, September 29th, with a scheduled kickoff of 7:30 PM. Comments are closed.
|
Our SponsorsArchives
October 2023
Categories |