Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

SOUTH POINT — Things started out tough for the Chesapeake Panthers, so they decided to get tough.

The Panthers went into Friday’s game without starting senior running back Nate Smith. Two series into the game, they lost starting quarterback Casey McComas to an injury.

Once the Panthers regrouped, they began to pull away to a 33-13 Ohio Valley Conference win over the South Point Pointers.

“Losing McComas early kind of knocked the wind out of us. He’s been our spark plug. But the kids showed a lot of resiliency. They stepped up and finished drives,” said Panthers’ coach Andy Clark.

With the loss of two key backfield members, Maccoy Brown ran 20 times for 125 yards and three touchdowns as the Panthers finished with 315 yards rushing as a team.

J.W. Bartrum added 81 yards on a17 carries and Cecil Fletcher got 55 yards on 16 attempts. McComas had 54 yards on his two carries.

Chesapeake is now 5-2 and 2-0 in the OVC. They host Coal Grove next Friday in a showdown for first place.

South Point (2-5, 0-2) was led by Mason White with 10 carries for 142 yards and two touchdowns. James Leonard ran six times for 53 yards.

The Pointers finished with 232 total yards including 228 on the ground.

Chesapeake scored on its first possession thanks to a 50-yard run by McComas who threw 25 yards to Kolton Webb for the touchdown 8:34 into the game. Wesley Stephens kicked the conversion.

The Panthers went up 13-0 on an 11-yard run by Fletcher four minutes later.

South Point answered when White bolted 35 yards for a touchdown a minute later and Alex Whitt’s conversion kick cut the deficit to 13-7.

The Panthers finally got on track offensively as Brown had a 5-yard scoring run just before the end of the third quarter and it was 19-7.

“We didn’t play well the first half. Our offensive line stepped up and played better the second half and the defense did a better job,” said Clark. “We played good team defense and our offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage.”

Brown came back with a 20-yard touchdown run with 8:53 to play and the lead grew to 26-7.

The Pointers were about to quit as White broke free on a 49-yard scoring run and it was 26-13 with 3:20 to go.

But the Panthers sealed the win as Brown ran 14 yards with 49 seconds left.

Chesapeake 13 0 6 14 = 33

South Point 7 0 0 6 = 13

First Quarter

Ch — Kolton Webb 25 pass from Casey McComas (Wesley Stephens kick) 8:34

Ch — Cecil Fletcher 11 run (kick failed) 4:07

SP — Mason White 35 run (Alex Whitt kick) 3:05

Third Quarter

Ch — Maccoy Brown 5 run (run failed) 1:03

Fourth Quarter

Ch — Maccoy Brown 20 run (Wesley Stephens kick) 8:53

SP — Mason White 49 run (pass failed) 3:20

Ch — Maccoy Brown 14 run (Wesley Stephens kick) 0:49

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Ch SP

First downs 18 5

Rushes-yards 58-315 24-228

Passing yards 47 4

Total yards 362 232

Cmp-Att-Int 4-5-0 1-12-0

Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-1

Penalties-yards 4-25 5-45

Punts-average 2-31.0 5-26.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Chesapeake: Casey McComas 2-54, Maccoy Brown 20-125, J.W. Bartrum 17-81, Cecil Fletcher 16-55, Austin Oldaker 3-0; South Point: Mason White 10-142, James Leonard 6-53, Drew Adams 3-11, Jacob Damron 4-22, Davon Leonard 1-0.

PASSING — Chesapeake: Casey McComas 1-1-0 25, Austin Oldaker 3-4-0 22; South Point: Drew Adams 1-11-0 4, Brandin Jackson 0-1-0.

RECEIVING — Chesapeake: Kolton Webb 1-25, Maccoy Brown 2-13, Will Scott 1-0; South Point: Mason White 1-4.