Last Friday, August 19th, the Lewis Cass football team faced off against Pioneer in our first game of the season. We had been patiently waiting for this moment for two years and we were not going to let this opportunity slip away. We did not play Pioneer last year due to the game being canceled because of Covid. We defeated the Panthers 16-0 in a very intense game. After the buzzer sounded in the fourth quarter, we sprinted to the victory bell to celebrate our win with the student section by singing the school fight song. All of the months of preparation had all paid off in the end

 We started off the game by forcing a fumble on Pioneer’s first drive. The fumble was recovered by Tyson Good and we started with the ball just inside Pioneer’s 30 yard line. After a few gains by Cooper Frey and a 4th and 1 conversion by Wyatt Loos, we punched the ball in from the 3 yard line with an inside run by Haden McClain. We forced Pioneer to punt on their next possession and despite some offensive penalties, we moved the ball pretty well. But after a touchdown pass reception by Wyatt Loos got called back due to a penalty, we faced a 4th and 20. We threw the ball deep and Tyson mossed a few Pioneer players but was downed one yard from the spot to gain. Therefore, we turned over possession to the panthers on their own 3 yard line. The very next play, Breyton Hensley and Keaton Lewellen sack the quarterback in the end zone, resulting in a safety. Later in the second quarter, thanks to a penalty that the Panthers received, they faced a 3rd and 26, in which their quarterback dropped back and chucked the ball deep. Unfortunately for Pioneer, Luke Chambers brought pressure up the middle and forced the quarterback to make a poor throw and Tyson took advantage and picked the pass off. Pioneer gets a couple of passes off but none of them find the endzone, so we go into halftime with a 9-0 lead.

We spent pretty much the entire 3rd quarter eating away at the clock, trying to reduce the amount of time Pioneer has to come back. Then, with just under 10 minutes left in the game, Tyson caught a 25 yard touchdown pass to put us up 16-0. This score was pretty much the dagger in the panther’s heart. Pioneer gained some yardage, but after another interception by Tyson, the game was sealed.

We out gained Pioneer 256-158 in total yardage. We had 104 yards on the ground and 152 in the air. Pioneer, on the other hand, had 123 rushing yards and only 32 passing yards.

Cooper was our leading rusher with 37 yards on 12 attempts and Tyson was our leading receiver with 73 yards on 3 receptions. This was a great way to start off our season. Our next game is against Maconaquah at home.