It was a historic night on the campus of Snider High School on Friday.
For the first time in Snider program history dating back to 1965, the Panthers played a home football game at their own school. The debut of Russ Isaacs Stadium, aka “The Ike” was a night that the school, students, alumni and the city will remember forever.
East Noble, however, showed up to ruin the party.
While the anticipation for the first home opener was at an all-time high, the Panthers had to deal with the No. 7 team in Class 4A in the Knights. East Noble scored early and often, then held on for a 46-36 victory to improve to 2-0.
For the entire first half, the Knights came in with one goal in mind – to spoil everything for the Panthers.
East Noble took control on the ground with a quick, initial drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown run by Austin Phillips. Snider got the ball to retaliate, but instead East Noble defensive lineman Landan Mills sacked Panthers quarterback Max Johnson and forced a fumble, which Tayden Getts recovered and returned for a touchdown for a 13-0 Knights lead.
The end of the first quarter ended up being a slight breath of fresh air for the Panthers, as they drove down the field and capped up their next drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Keaton Robinson.
But that was the only real offense we saw from Snider in the first half. East Noble instantly responded with a 30-yard touchdown pass from Easton Kline to Alex Scott and took a 19-7 lead barely a minute into the second quarter. A rushing touchdown and a pick-6 from Getts on an errant throw on a screen pass pushed the advantage to 32-7 at half.
Believe it or not, ‘The Ike’ was still rocking despite being down 25 points at the break. It helped add a spark for the Panthers as they returned from the locker room. Snider channeled that energy and began crawling back into the game immediately with two quick touchdowns, which included a touchdown pass from Johnson to Caleb Clapper. Just like that, East Noble’s lead was trimmed to 32-22 with 2:23 left in the 3rd quarter.
Snider continued to fight back, but East Noble always seemed to have an answer. The game got as close as 39-36, and Snider had possession with a chance to drive and either tie the game or win it, but Johnson was picked off by Scott, who returned it for the third defensive touchdown of the game for the Knights and clinched the victory.
“We came in with a chip on our shoulder,” Scott said. “We see all the stuff online. You know people are picking against us. We love being villains. We know this was their home opener and first time at their stadium and we wanted to ruin it. We love away games, we love riding the bus to ruin people’s nights.”
Led by Scott channeling his inner Megatron (his favorite villain), the Knights were able to ruin the Panthers’ special night and remain unbeaten with two big victories over SAC teams. The Knights begin conference play next week at Huntington North.
Meanwhile, Snider, 0-2 in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history, will look to get its first win at ‘The Ike’ next week against Bishop Luers (0-2).
Be the first to comment