Indians cage the Panthers

  By Hannah Janssen

   Ganado traveled to Danbury and won 21-6, but you would never have guessed that result from the first two quarters.

   In fact, the first half itself was rather uneventful. The Indians received the ball on the kick-off, but did not make it to the end zone. The offense, led by senior quarterback Michael-Douglas Maresh, only attempted to pass the ball twice, both incompletions, and the running game didn’t make many gains.

    An early play was even fumbled by senior running back Matthew Sterling and recovered by Danbury, where they got a first down at the fifteen yard line. Only a short drive happened in the second quarter, with the exception of an impressive 25-yard run by senior running back Garrett McCann in the first.

    The Panthers jumped on the Indian slump, despite what the score showed. The defense stepped up in recovering the Indian fumble early on, getting the momentum and energy on their side. Senior quarterback Colby Mitchell had an accurate start in his passing game, nailing a 75-yard touchdown pass to Senior Jacob Ainworth with 56 seconds to go in the first quarter. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful, but regardless, the Panthers were on the board 6-0. They couldn’t move the ball to the end zone for the rest of the half. 

    The second half was a whole new ball game. The Panthers received the kick-off, but made little progress before turning the ball over to the Indians. Both teams continued to trade the ball back and forth, but there was a difference in the teams: the Indians stepped up and the Panthers didn’t seem to expect it. 

    A late-quarter offensive Indian run set everything in motion. After plays by senior Matt Bridges and Sterling, Maresh scored the Indians’ first touchdown on the keeper. The kick by Oscar Mendoza was good, and with 3:51 to go, the Indians were up by one.

    The Panthers began to come back at the Indian defense, but then that drive was cut short when senior cornerback Cameron Lambert intercepted Mitchell’s pass at the fifty. The Indian offense took advantage of the play with a 48 yard pass to Lambert a couple of plays in, and a 13 yard run by McCann scored another Indian touchdown. Mendoza’s kick was no good. Now the score stood 6-13 with fifty-four seconds to go in the third. 

    In the fourth quarter, the Panthers pressured the Indian defense. They were in a good set-up at the start of the fourth, but were forced to punt the ball. The Indian offense came out and quickly gave the ball to McCann for a 57-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was successful, bringing the score to 21-6 with 9:41 remaining.

    The Panthers tried at it again, but Mitchell was intercepted, this time by junior Toby Ortiz. During this offensive run, the Indians came close to scoring, but McCann fumbled the ball at the one yard-line, and the Panthers recovered the ball. However, plagued by penalties, they didn’t score again. The clock ran out with the score final at 6-21.

    Next week, the Indians will host Snook (2015 2-4 district record) on Friday for their homecoming