Watkins Memorial sets up potential LCL-Buckeye title match with win over Licking Valley
By: Ty Bartlett
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ZANESVILLE, Ohio (WOUB) — Watkins Memorial Warriors defeated the Licking Valley Panthers 30-13 on Friday night.
The Warriors went into this game trying to keep their streak alive with their current record being set at 6-1. With a stellar defense and a great offense the Panthers really had their hands full.
The Panthers on the other hand held Homecoming tonight against the Warriors and had a record of 4-2 but still had a great defense and offense that did it all.
In the first few minutes of the game the Panthers punt the ball to the Warriors, and then Brody Lee gets the return and takes it all the way to the house for a touchdown, bringing the score to 7-0.
A little later into the first quarter the Panthers have the ball and during a rushing play fumble and the Warriors are there to retrieve the ball. After many plays the warriors get to the red zone where quarterback Patrick Carney takes the ball all the way to the house for another Warriors Touchdown now bringing the score to 14-0.
After an extremely long second quarter the Panthers get the ball and Hayden Rodgers, with 15 second left in the quarter and in the half drives the ball all the way into the endzone for the Panthers first touchdown of the night which now brings the score to 14-7.
After halftime into the third quarter the Panthers get a bad snap and the Warriors capitalize by getting the safety bringing the score to 16-7.
Later on in the third quarter Brody Lee comes out with yet another rushing touchdown for the Warriors bringing the score to 23-7.
Finally we get to the fourth quarter and the Panthers have the ball again. During this time quarterback Hayden Rodgers throws an absolute dime to wide receiver Ayden Stainaker for yet another Panthers touchdown but Panthers could come up with the two point conversion so the score is now set at 23-13.
Near the end of the fourth quarter, Hayden Rodgers goes for a long pass but is intercepted by Brody Lees of the Warriors, this gives the Warriors a chance to score and they take it with Alex Phelps rushing the ball into the endzone and securing the win for the Warriors with a score of 30-13.
The Warriors defense was impeccable where the Panthers couldn’t really run the ball all that much because they would just get stopped at the line of scrimmage and when the Panthers tried passing the Warriors defense would overwhelm the offensive line and then get to Rodgers and he would either have make a short pass to a wide receiver that stay back or throw the ball away.
But there was one player in particular I would like to focus on and that is Brody Lees, this guy was an absolute beast on both offense and defense. For offense he had 109 receiving yards and with an average of 54.4 yard every time he received it and had two touchdowns under his belt. On defense he had three solo tackles and a game changing interception that eventually led to another Warriors touchdown.
Watkins walks away with a win bringing their record to 7-1 and they play at home against Licking Heights next Friday, a potential LCL-Buckeye title match.
Licking Valley adds another loss to their record which leaves them at 4-3 and they go on the road to Lima Central Catholic next Friday.