Panthers use quick-strike ground game for easy win
Published 7:25 pm Saturday, October 13, 2018
Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com
SOUTH POINT — The Chesapeake Panthers like to work quickly.
The Panthers ran the ball only 34 times and did not throw a pass but still racked up 497 yards of offense in a 53-14 Ohio Valley Conference win over the South Point Pointers on Friday.
“We blocked well and our backs have enough speed to get on the edge or break a big play,” said Panthers’ coach Andy Clark.
The Panthers scored four times in the first quarter and ran only six plays. They also had a 63-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Will Todd.
Speaking of Todd, he ran six times for 203 and scored three touchdowns to lead the Panthers (4-4, 2-3).
Quarterback Donald Richendollar ran three times for 96 yards and a score, Carson Nida had 74 yards on just six attempts with a TD, and Kamren Harless rushed eight times for 54 yards and two scores.
South Point (0-8, 0-5) had 239 total yards as JoJo Burris ran 17 times for 62 yards and caught five passes for 63 more yards with a touchdown.
Quarterback Brody Blackwell was 12-of-23 for 121 yards and an interception.
Nida ran 52 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the game and it was 7-0.
After a South Point punt, Richendollar bolted 75 yards on the second play and it was 13-0 with 7:42 left in the quarter.
South Point came back to score on a 1-yard run by Blackwell to cap a 61-yard, 8-play drive and trailed 13-7.
But two plays later, Todd got loose and rambled 3 yards for the touchdown and it was 20-7 with 3:56 on the clock.
The Pointers answered with another scoring drive of 73 yards in eight plays keyed by a 37-yard pass from a scrambling Blackwell to Burris. The two hooked up on an 11-yard touchdown pass and trailed 20-14 with 19 seconds on the clock.
But Todd returned the kickoff for score and the lead was 26-14.
Chesapeake’s defense went into “shut down mode” and held the Pointers scoreless from that point on.
Meanwhile, Harless began a 56-yard drive with a 21-yard run and ended it with a 20-yard TD run and it was 33-14 with 9:07 left in the half.
Richendollar came up with an interception at the Panthers’ 21 and then Todd went 79 yards for a touchdown on the ensuing play to make it 40-14 with 5:02 left in the half.
The Panthers drove for a third quarter touchdown as they went 51 yards in nine plays capped by Harless’ 5-yard run with 5:41 on the clock.
Chesapeake’s backups got the final score on a 4-yard quarterback sneak by Zander Schmidt in the fourth quarter.
Next Friday, Chesapeake visits Rock Hill and South Point hosts Portsmouth.
Chesapeake 26 14 7 6 = 53
South Point 14 0 0 0 = 14
First Quarter
Ch — Carson Nida 52 run (Brady Wilson kick) 11:07
Ch — Donald Richendollar 75 run (kick failed) 7:42
SP — Brody Blackwell 1 run (Adrien Johnson kick) 4:33
Ch — Will Todd 73 run (Brady Wilson kick) 3:56
SP — JoJo Burris 11 pass from Brody Blackwell (Adrien Johnson kick) 0:19
Ch — Will Todd 63 kickoff return (kick failed) 0:09
Second Quarter
Ch — Kamren Harless 20 run (Brady Wilson kick) 9:07
Ch — Will Todd 79 run (Brady Wilson kick) 5:02
Third Quarter
Ch — Kamren Harless 9 run (Brady Wilson kick) 5:41
Fourth Quarter
Ch — Zander Schmidt 4 run (kick failed) 5:42
———
Ch SP
First downs 16 12
Rushes-yards 34-497 27-109
Passing yards 0 130
Total yards 497 239
Cmp-Att-Int 0-0-0 14-27-1
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 7-73 2-30
Punts-average 0-0.00 3-31.7
———
Individual Leaders
RUSHING — Chesapeake: Will Todd 6-203, Carson Nida 6-74, Kamren Harless 8-54, Donald Richendollar 3-96, Tyler Eddy 1-3, Zander Schmidt 3-13, Ian Hicks 3-7, Grayson Walsh 2-28, Blake Thompson 1-3, Landon Preston 1-16; South Point: JoJo Burris 17-62, Joel Morrison 6-16, Brody Blackwell 2-8, Brenden Dillon 1-6, Maddox McCallister 1-3.
PASSING — Chesapeake: No attempts; South Point: Brody Blackwell 12-23-1 121, Alex Lambert 2-4-0 9.
RECEIVING — Chesapeake: None; South Point: Joel Morrison 5-29, JoJo Burris 5-63, Larry Fox 1-8, Chance Gunther 1-21, Brenden Dillon 1-6, Maddox McCallister 1-3.