By Matt M. Stutz
The Pandora-Gilboa High School football team won their third straight game, overwhelming Blanchard Valley Conference foe Arcadia to the tune of 63-7 on Friday, September 9.
It was all P-G in the first half as the Rockets flew to a comfortable 49-0 halftime advantage.
P-G received the opening kickoff and quickly went up 7-0 as senior running back Ethan Luginbill ran it in from 10 yards out and Elam Suter connected on the point after kick with 11:12 on the first quarter clock-and the rout was on.
From there, in a span of forty-two seconds, P-G pulled ahead 21-0. Back-to-back Arcadia fumbles led to a 12-yard touchdown run from Luginbill, and then a 10-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Carson Meyer to his classmate, Aidan Morris.
Still in the first, Meyer and Morris would again connect one possession later, this time a ten-yard catch turned into a 70-yard touchdown pass-catch-and-run, aided by poor Redskin tackling. Luginbill then scored on a 40-yard run to put P-G ahead 35-0 at the end of the first quarter and a running clock ensued the rest of the way. At this point in the contest, Arcadia had more fumbles than yards.
Meyer tossed a couple of touchdown passes in the second quarter: a 20-yard touchdown to Morris, and then a 12-yard touchdown pass to junior Colin Harris to close out the first half.
Many younger Rockets saw their first action under the varsity lights in the second half, as tail back Tanner Liechty scored his first touchdown of the season on a 19-yard run. Then Ben Burkholder scored his first varsity touchdown on an 8-yard run. Suter was a perfect 8-8 on the night with extra-point kicks, as freshman Cam Verhoff kicked the last PAT attempt, adding what proved to be the final point for the Rockets. The Redskins would add a late touchdown to ruin the shutout.
Luginbill finished the night with 9 carries for 162 yards rushing and Morris had 6 catches for 142 yards and each scored three touchdowns.
Next up, the Rockets (3-1, 1-0 BVC) will face a stiff test when they host perennial BVC power McComb (3-1, 2-0 BVC) this Friday evening September 16 at 7:00 p.m.
