Panthers blank LH, 63-0
Laurel Highlands' quarterback Jake Riddell (3) gains some yardage as Franklin Regional's Jon Farbarik (42) pursues during Friday's game at Laurel Highlands.
Laurel Highlands' Mike Masonhas his path blocked by several Franklin Regional defenders during Friday's game at Laurel Highlands.
Laurel Highlands' quarterback Jake Riddell is brought down by Franklin Regional's Dominic Matarazzo (12) during Friday's game.
Laurel Highlands' Joe Pegg (17) tries to escape Franklin Regional defenders Graham Schilling (25) and Dominic Matarazzo (12).
“Unacceptable.”
That was Laurel Highlands football coach Zack Just’s one-word description of Friday night’s 63-0 loss at the hands of powerful Franklin Regional.
Yes, the Panthers are a very good football team, one Just referred to as “the best-coached team we’ll face.”
“But that’s no excuse,” Just added. “Sixty-three to nothing is awful. Forty-nine to nothing at the half is awful. I’m very disappointed in the effort and in how we played.”
The Panthers improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in Keystone Conference games simply by running through the Mustangs. Junior running back Dane Brown had touchdown runs of 76 and 86 yards in the first quarter, as Franklin Regional piled up 232 yards and 204 on the ground in the first 12 minutes alone. Brown finished with 211 yards on 10 carries and had only one carry for four yards in the second half.
“We don’t tackle well,” Just said. “We’ve got to get back to the things that had been working for us.”
That inability to tackle well was evident throughout the game, most notably on Brown’s long touchdown runs, when he seemed engulfed by Mustangs only to come out the other side and strint to the end zone.
Laurel Highlands, meanwhile, managed only 81 yards in the game. LH dropped to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in conference games
“Two first downs in the first half is unacceptable,” Just said. “I thought we were making strides the last couple of weeks, but we took a step back tonight. We’ve got to get back to work. The fact that they are good, we can’t use that as an excuse. We’ve got to do a better job of coaching and the kids have got to do a better job playing. It starts with me and trickles down to every player.
“We’ve got two winable games left and it starts at eight in the morning Saturday.”
As if their ground game wasn’t potent enough, the Panthers also completed all seven of their passes for 86 yards. Franklin Regional amassed 348 yards by halftime befor ethe mercy rule clock limited the Panthers to 50 in the second half.
Brown finished with three touchdowns, Kevin Wilhelm added two scoring runs. Quarterback Charan Singh ran for a score and passed for another, to Graham Schilling. Also scoring rushing touchdowns were Corey Baumgardner and Kevin Slezak.
The Mustangs travel to Hollidaysburg next Friday before closing the season a week later by hosting Albert Gallatin.
Keystone Conference
Franklin Regional 63, Laurel Highlands 0
At Laurel Highlands
First Quarter
FR: Dane Brown 76 run (Mike Roberge kick), 7:38 (7-0)
FR: Kevin Wilhelm 1 run (Roberge kick), 3:53 (14-0)
FR: Brown 86 run (Roberge kick), 2:02, (21-0)
FR: Graham Schilling 8 pass from Charan Singh (Roberge kick), 0:03 (28-0)
Second Quarter
FR: Brown 1 run (Roberge kick), 9:16 (35-0)
FR: Singh 7 run (Roberge kick), 6:32 (42-0)
FR: Wilhelm 7 run (Roberge kick), 1:42 (49-0)
Third Quarter
FR: Corey Baumgardner 1 run (Roberge kick), 3:00 (56-0)
FR: Kevin Slezak 1 run (Roberge kick), 3:26 (63-0)