The Panther faithful were hoping for a strong follow-up to last week’s season opening win when Jackson County hit the field Friday night.
The last time the Panthers were 2-0 was back in 1981.
Their team delivered, defeating the Phoenix of Sonoraville 42-7 in a rough game that was riddled with personal fouls.
The Panthers have this Friday off. Their next game is slated for Sept. 18, when they will play host to Prince Avenue Christian. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Sonoraville
The Panthers started out Friday’s game by getting on the board first. Jonathan Holton made his way into the Sonoraville end zone just four minutes into the game, and Jackson County took a 7-0 lead.
Late in the first quarter, Sonoraville began to drive deep into Panther territory. That drive continued until the buzzer sounded, ending the first quarter. Five seconds into the second quarter, the Phoenix broke into the Jackson County end zone, tying the game 7-7.
For much of the next quarter, the Panthers worked to find traction against the Phoenix. When Jackson County took possession of the ball with about three and a half minutes left in the half, back-up quarterback Jalen Banks went in for Alex Crawford.
One minute later, Banks put together a 57-yard pass play to Charles Smothers for the second Jackson County touchdown of the night, as the Panthers took a 14-7 lead.
About 15 seconds into their next possession, Sonoraville fumbled the ball. The Panthers recovered on the 17-yard line, with Crawford returning to the game.
With a little over a minute remaining in the first half, Jackson County’s Michael Pesaresi made his way into the end zone, giving the Panthers a 21-7 lead going into halftime.
Both teams would push back and forth, fighting for field position through the third quarter. With just over seven and a half minutes left in the quarter, the Panthers made a big stop on Sonoraville on fourth down to take over on their own 28-yard line.
About a minute later, as the Panthers attempted to punt, Sonoraville was called for roughing the kicker, giving the Panthers an automatic first down.
Despite the efforts on both sides, the third quarter ended with neither team having added to their score.
The standoff ended a little over three minutes into the fourth quarter when Josh Spanks intercepted a Sonoraville pass and ran it in for a touchdown. The extra point was successful, and Jackson County now had a 28-7 lead.
About a minute later, Sonoraville fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Jackson County’s Alex Garcia. Two minutes later, the Panthers scored again as Holton made his second touchdown of the night.
The extra point gave the Panthers a 35-7 lead.
With just over two minutes left, the Panthers would make their final touchdown on the night as Zane Cochran made his way into the end zone. The extra point made it 42-7. The score would stay the same until the final buzzer.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
