FOOTBALL ROUNDUP: Panthers pull away in 4th for win over Kings

Aug. 21—Pioneer scored 21 straight points in the fourth quarter in a 29-22 win over Lewis Cass Friday night at the Pit.

Trevor Rowe got the Kings on the board first with a 32-yard toudown run. Cass led 6-0 after one quarter.

Rylahn Toloza scored on a 1-yard TD run for the Panthers. Cayden Hill ran in the 2-point conversion on a botched PAT attempt as Pioneer took an 8-6 lead into halftime.

Jonathan Mack gave the Kings the lead back with an 18-yard TD run. Trevor Rowe's 2-point conversion run made it 14-8, a lead Cass would take into the fourth quarter.

Micah Rans answered with a 4-yard TD run to start the scoring for the Panthers in the fourth. He later added a 20-yard TD run to make it 22-14. Toloza scored from 32 yards out to make it 29-14. Cooper Frey had a 4-yard TD run for the Kings with 1:38 remaining. LJ Hillis ran in the 2-pointer to make it 29-22 before Pioneer held on for the win.

"We told our guys during halftime it was going to come down to the fourth quarter," Pioneer coach Adam Berry said. "We scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter which was the difference-maker."

The Panthers won with some old-school iron man football.

"We were down a couple guys and I think we ended up playing 14 total players the whole night," Berry said. "So they were exhausted but they dug deep and they got the job done. There was at one point I think we had four freshmen, three freshmen on offense. Blair Burns wasn't expecting to start at right tackle but some things happened and he got the start and never came out on the offensive side of the ball. He did an absolutely tremendous job and he proved that he could play on Friday nights. I'm just extremely proud of the guys, all three phases they did awesome."

Toloza, a senior fullback, carried the ball 27 times for 168 yards and two touchdowns for the Panthers. Rans, a sophomore quarterback, added 90 yards and two TDs on 11 attempts. He was 2 of 6 passing for 16 yards.

"Going into the year we knew a lot of the focal point was going to be on Toloza after the season he had last year," Berry said. "We knew a lot of the focus was going to be on Hill simply by his speed. Toloza and Rans ended up being a great 1-2 punch. Probably the second quarter on we ran a ton of option with Micah. He was making the correct reads and he had the best game of his career. He even kicked extra points for us and kicked off for us. He did a great job. I think it was the first time we've kicked extra points since 2017. "

Hill had 11 tackles and a fumble recovery on defense. Brady Price also had a fumble recovery and Toloza and Blu Rosen-Jacks each forced a fumble.

Frey had 91 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries for the Kings. Rowe had 70 yards on 12 carries and a score. Mack added 49 yards on seven attempts and a score. Hillis had 38 yards rushing and was 2 of 10 passing for 15 yards. Dalton Lowe had both receptions.

Hillis led the defense with 16 tackles. Eli Martin had 13 tackles. Braylen Mayhill forced a fumble that Lowe recovered.

"We lost to a better football team tonight," Cass coach Clayton Mannering told WLHM in a postgame interview. "Now I don't know if they would be the better football team if we played them next week or the week after. But there was no question the way they fired off the ball tonight consistently throughout the game, you could feel it a little bit.

"It was an odd game. There were a couple series there where it felt like I don't know how they're going to stop us. And obviously several series where it was I don't know how we're going to stop them. So it was kind of a momentum game. One of the big differences was we kind of got spoiled with our kicking game last year. When you graduate seniors sometimes you forget how big of an impact they had. Luke Chambers last year on kickoff and punting, Breyton Hensley, a senior snapped it to him. Those are some big plays, we gave up a lot of field position tonight that way. At the end of the day it came down to our offense stalled too many times at times and their offense really did a nice job. We couldn't get them off the field."

Cass opens its inaugural season of Three Rivers Conference play next Friday when it hosts Northfield. Pioneer travels to Winamac to open Hoosier North Athletic Conference play.

W. CENTRAL 24, CASTON 12

West Central pulled away for a season opening win at Caston.

The Trojans led 6-0 at halftime and took a 12-0 lead in the third quarter. The Comets got on the board on a touchdown run by Jabez Yarber to make it 12-6 with 6:05 left in the third. The Trojans answered with a 21-yard TD pass to make it 18-6 with 2:08 left in the third. The Comets cut it to 18-12 in the third on a nine-yard TD pass from Gavin Mollenkopf to Grant Yadon. West Central capped the scoring on a TD pass with 6:35 remaining.

Connor Marlatt was 10 of 10 passing for 173 yards and three touchdowns for the Trojans. Austin Bolen had three catches for 101 yards and a TD. Josiah Rodriguez had five catches for 57 yards and a score. Felipe Bazan added two catches for 43 yards and a score.

Jacob Pilarski had 49 yards rushing on 12 carries. Marlatt added eight carries for 36 yards and a score.

Mollenkopf was 8 of 15 passing for 104 yards for the Comets. Levi Martin completed a 12-yard pass. Yadon had four catches for 53 yards. Yarber had two catches for 38 yards. Kyle Roudebush added three receptions for 25 yards.

Yarber led the rushing attack with 61 yards on 12 carries. Roudebush had 49 yards on 10 attempts. Landen Rigney added 25 yards on three totes.

Martin led the defense with seven tackles. Roudebush and Pete DuVall added six apiece. Yadon forced a fumble that Yarber recovered.

Caston travels to North Judson Friday.

KNOX 42, WINAMAC 0

Winamac ran into a buzzsaw at Knox in the final meeting between the programs in the foreseeable future.

Knox, which won a Class 3A sectional title last year, is leaving the HNAC after this season.

Knox outgained Winamac 353-47 on the ground and 60-21 through the air.

Maddox Bucinski led the Warriors with 39 yards rushing on 11 attempts. Max Gearhart was 1 of 7 passing with a 21-yard completion to Jadon Jones.

Winamac hosts Pioneer Friday.

CARROLL 59, N. NEWTON 0

The visiting Cougars opened a 20-0 lead after a quarter and piled on 33 points in the second period to take an overwhelming 53-0 lead heading into halftime to trigger a running clock for the second half.

Carroll hosts Riverton Parke next Friday.