By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
SPRING GARDEN – Spring Garden senior tight end John Welsh admitted the Panthers needed some time to shake off the rust in Thursday night’s season opener against Sand Rock, after all, they haven’t played in a real football atmosphere since last November.
“Everyone is screaming. You can smell the steak sandwiches. You haven’t done it for a year, so yeah, it was a little nervous,” he said.
This nervousness led to poor execution and penalties in the first half, but when the Panthers regrouped at halftime, they looked like they once again had their dominant form.
After trailing 7-6 at the end of the first quarter, Spring Garden scored 35 unanswered points to take a 41-7 victory.
“We didn’t control the line of scrimmage well in the first half,” Spring Garden coach Barrett Ragsdale said. “We had a couple of penalties and poor execution and just couldn’t get anything done. We go in at halftime and talk. We have an experienced team. We went out and executed and controlled the line of scrimmage. That allowed us to open up our playbook a little bit.”
Welsh did a little of everything for the Panthers (1-0), catching three passes for 80 yards and scoring two touchdowns. On defense, he made five tackles and returned an interception 68 yards, giving Spring Garden the final score with 10:38 left in the game.
Welsh also scored a touchdown on a 65-yard punt return, but the punt was called back due to a Panthers penalty.
Not a bad start to the 2024 high school football season.
“We started slow in the first and second quarters, but then we found our rhythm,” Welsh said. “We just knew we had to step up and overcome the things we did wrong and have the will to make it happen. That’s what we did in the second half.”
“John stepped up and made plays when we needed him, offensively and defensively,” Ragsdale said. “He came out hard on defense and was very committed on offense as well. He played a great game. I was proud of him and his performance.”
Senior quarterback Noah Barber and senior running back Connor Bates were also crucial for the Panthers. Barber completed 6 of his 12 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns. Bates rushed for 84 yards on nine runs. He also caught two passes for 73 yards and a touchdown.
“You can’t always stay in the jumbo and stay unbalanced. Sometimes you have to be able to spread it out,” Barber said. “That opens up the run, too. It’s great to have athletes you can pass the ball to.”
Barber helped Spring Garden take an early 6-0 lead with a 72-yard touchdown throw to Bates just 1:17 into the game.
But the Wildcats (0-1) answered later in the quarter with a 9-play, 56-yard drive that led to Kane Robison’s 5-yard touchdown run. Morgan Tucker’s extra point gave Sand Rock a 7-6 lead with 5:18 left in the first quarter.
The Panthers regained the lead with 9:26 left in the first half when Barber scored his first touchdown against Welsh, a 24-yard run. Bates’ run for a 2-point conversion was not enough to keep the score at 12-7.
Sand Rock threatened to take the lead with a drive inside the Panthers’ 5-yard line with just over four minutes left in the first half, but on fourth down and goal, Bates intercepted a pass from Alec Ashley near the end zone and the ball was lost.
After a Sand Rock punt early in the third quarter, Bates scored on a 10-yard run. Barber ran in and converted the 2-pointer that gave Spring Garden a 20-7 lead.
Welsh scored a 16-yard touchdown at the end of the third quarter to take a 27-7 lead. The Wildcats gave the ball back to the Panthers by fumbled the ensuing kickoff, leading to Barber’s 21-yard touchdown throw to Welsh eight seconds into the fourth quarter.
Welsh capped the game with his interception return for the final score.
Ashley completed 7 of his 16 pass attempts for 95 yards, leading the Wildcats.
Spring Garden travels to Pleasant Valley on Friday. Sand Rock hosts West End of Walnut Grove.
