New Lexington stays undefeated in Panther-vs-Panther matchup
By: Brody Montgomery
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NEW LEXINGTON, Ohio (WOUB) – The New Lexington Panthers (7-0, 3-0 MVL Small) hosted the Maysville Panthers (3-4, 1-1 MVL Small) in their homecoming game. New Lexington is off to its first 6-0 start since 2007, while Maysville looked to spoil the Panthers’ amazing start to the season. New Lexington entered with a four-game winning streak against Maysville, and the Panthers kept that streak alive inside Jim Rockwell Stadium, jumping on Maysville early and cruising to a 54-16 win.
New Lexington started with the ball and wasted no time getting things rolling. In just two plays, the Panthers marched straight down the field and capped off their drive with a 3-yard touchdown run by senior RB Paul Stenson. The Panthers completed the 2-point try, and in just 38 seconds, took an 8-0 lead.
Maysville’s offense could not get the ball in front of the sticks, and on its first drive, was forced to punt. An errant snap would send the ball over the punter’s head, setting up the dominant New Lex offense inside the 5-yard line. It would take one play for Stenson’s name to be called again as he plowed in for his second score of the night. The Panthers’ offense had run four plays and scored two touchdowns. The extra point would be missed, keeping New Lex at an early 14-0 lead.
Offense was not Maysville’s calling card in the first quarter, as they would be forced to punt after another three-and-out. New Lex junior QB Lane Ratliff used his legs to lead the Panthers down inside the 3-yard line, where sophomore RB Colton Mathias would cap the drive off with a score, New Lex leads 21-0.
New Lexington would get the ball back quickly and do the same thing again. The Panthers marched right down the field and Stenton scored his third touchdown of the night extending the lead to 28-0.
Maysville’s next drive led to a punt that would be blocked by New Lex junior Tanner Toth. Colton Mathias scooped the ball up and took it all the way to the house, giving the panthers a 35-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Maysville figured things out offensively in the second quarter with senior QB Kade Rock leading a dominant passing drive down the field. He would find sophomore WR Keaton Bryan for a 10-yard strike, making this Maysville’s first touchdown of the night.
New Lex had scored majority of their points within the 10-yard line, but the next two Panther drives would be from far out. Stenson took it 50 yards to the house for his fourth touchdown of the half, while Lane Ratliff used his legs en route for a 44-yard touchdown run. These two touchdowns gave New Lex a 48-7 lead going into half.
The second half started with a running clock and New Lexington maintained their dominance throughout the rest of the game. Maysville was able to add two more points on a safety. New Lex scored one more touchdown from senior DE Paul Kneely as he intercepted the ball and took it for a pick six. New Lexington went go on to win this one in dominant fashion, 54-16.
New Lexington improves on to 7-0 and will travels to Meadowbrook (3-4, 1-1 MVL Small) next week. As for Maysville, the Panthers will host West Muskingum (3-4, 1-1 MVL Small) and look to get their second conference win of the season.