By Matt M. Stutz
The Pandora -Gilboa High School football team traveled to Vanlue on Friday night September 23,to take on the Wildcats in Blanchard Valley Conference action. P-G flew out to a commanding 35-0 lead after just one quarter of play on their way to an easy 49-6 win.
P-G senior running back Ethan Luginbill led the first quarter onslaught, scoring three of those touchdowns. The first one came on a 50-yard touchdown run just seventeen seconds into the contest, on the Rocket’s very first play of the game. Luginbill also had touchdown runs of 11 yards and later 12 yards.
The Rockets faced some adversity earlier in the week as they found out on Wednesday their starting quarterback, Carson Meyer, would be unable to play due to injury. Next man up was Tanner Liechty who looked in midseason form, tossing a pair of first quarter touchdowns. First, he found his receiver Colin Harris open on a short 1-yard pass and catch. Two possessions later, Liechty connected 21 yards through the air with receiver Aidan Morris.
Elam Suter was a perfect five-for-five on extra-point kicks in the quarter as P-G would go into halftime up 35-6.
The Rockets would put two more touchdowns on the board in the third quarter, as the running clock would get put back into play. Liechty again found Morris open in the endzone for and 18-yard touchdown pass with 7:41 to go in the third. Morris then turned around on defense and intercepted a Wildcat pass attempt, their fifth turnover of the game, returning it for what proved to be the final touchdown as Suter finished perfect kicking on the night, putting the final extra point on the board with a scoreless 4th quarter.
Next up, the Rockets (4-2, 2-1 BVC) will once again hit the road, traveling to Van Buren (1-5, 1-3 BVC) this Friday evening September 30th at 7pm. P-G currently stands 8th in the Division 7, Region 26, computer rankings, with the top 12 in each region, making the OHSAA football playoffs.
