The Avery Middle School Panthers continued their winning ways last week with a 30-20 win at MacDonald Stadium over the Bowman Bulldogs.Avery used a punishing ground game to pound the Bulldogs into submission in the early going. Wade Smith opened the scoring for the Panthers when he scurried into the end zone on an 11-yard touchdown jaunt to give Avery an early lead. The Panthers turned a single point opportunity into a two-point conversion when the snap on the extra point sailed into the hands of kicker Tre Jackson, who raced around the left side for the conversion and an 8-0 lead.
Bowman answered on the first play from scrimmage after the Avery score with a 53-yard touchdown run to cut the margin to 8-6. The Panthers defense turned the Bulldogs away on the two-point try to preserve its slim lead at the 6:09 mark of the first period.
On its next offensive series, Avery again struck pay dirt with a quarterback sneak off left guard from a yard out by Vikings signal-caller Austin Phillips. The extra point kick failed, but Avery led 14-6.
Two plays into its ensuing series, Bowman’s running game continued to churn out yardage as the Bulldogs again slipped through the hands of the Avery offense for a 69-yard touchdown run, this time by the Bowman quarterback. The two-point conversion was successful to tie the game at 14-14. The score remained unchanged through the remainder of the first half.
In the third quarter, Avery regained the lead on a 17-yard touchdown pass play from Phillips to wide receiver Wade Smith. The two-point running play was successful to put the Panthers ahead 22-14 with 2:09 to play in the third period.
Avery’s defense made a fourth-down stand on Bowman in the early fourth quarter to turn away a possession, then five plays later scored on a nine-yard quarterback run off the right side by Austin Phillips, padding Avery’s lead with 3:30 left in the contest. The two-point conversion run by Phillips was also good to give Avery a 30-14 advantage.
Avery surrendered a final touchdown on a 77-yard kickoff return following its score, but took the conference win as the final horn sounded for the team’s second consecutive
Also the same evening the Cranberry Wildcats traveled to take on conference leader Cane River.
The Rebels, who have been strong this season, continued to show its strength as Cranberry sought its second conference victory of the season.
Cane River proved too much for the Wildcats, who were playing without the services of its offensive juggernaut Tyler Pittman, who was lost for the season previously with a broken collarbone. The Rebels came away with a 40-8 victory.
Avery played Cane River in conference action this past Tuesday, while Cranberry hosted Harris Middle School. A recap of these contests can be read in next week’s edition, as well as online at the Avery Journal-Times Sports Blog at www.ajtsports.blogspot.com
