It was a short reprieve as the junior running back scooped it up, brushed off three tackles and raced down the right sideline on a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that put the Panthers up 34-14 en route to a 51-21 victory in a key District 10-5A Division II matchup Friday at Legacy Stadium.
“When I dropped it, I was just thinking I had to make a play so [coach BJ Gotte] won’t get mad,” Bankston said. “When I hit the sideline, I broke that tackle. Next thing you know, I scored a touchdown.”
Rudder’s football team finally appeared to catch a break when Katy Paetow’s Damon Bankston muffed a kickoff near his own end zone late in the second quarter.
It was a short reprieve as the junior running back scooped it up, brushed off three tackles and raced down the right sideline on a 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that put the Panthers up 34-14 en route to a 51-21 victory in a key District 10-5A Division II matchup Friday at Legacy Stadium.
“When I dropped it, I was just thinking I had to make a play so [coach BJ Gotte] won’t get mad,” Bankston said. “When I hit the sideline, I broke that tackle. Next thing you know, I scored a touchdown.”
With Rudder struggling to defend the run, Paetow opened the second quarter with a 64-yard touchdown pass from CJ Dumas Jr. to Johnathan Baker, who broke wide open after Dumas Jr. faked a handoff. After a Rudder three-and-out, Paetow pounced again, moving 64 yards in eight plays, capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by Jolly to extend the lead to 27-7.
Rudder appeared to get back in the game with a 6-yard touchdown run by Ezar on an option keeper late in the first half, but Bankston’s long kickoff return snuffed out any momentum for the Rangers.
Rudder scored on its first drive of the second half, again on a short run from Ezar, to cut the lead to 34-21, and got the stop it needed, forcing a turnover on downs at the Ranger 22-yard line. But a sack and an incomplete pass stymied Rudder’s rally, and the Panthers reeled off 17 straight points to finish the game. Isaac Jimenez connected on a 29-yard field goal, and Kelley capped a five-minute drive with a 7-yard TD run to make it 44-21 with 5:03 left.
Ezar churned out 64 rushing yards on 17 carries, mostly on keepers up the middle and completed 13 of 24 passes for 109 yards, but his fourth-down interception by Paetow’s Kentrell Webb with under four minutes left ended the Rangers’ last gasp chance at a comeback.
Ezar left the game for one play after being shaken up on a sack by Agumba Otuonye, and the Rangers fumbled the ensuing snap, with Paetow’s DJ Mourning II recovering.
Despite the loss, Rudder’s goal of making the playoffs for the first time in program history is still within reach, but the Rangers know the road became much more difficult.
“We’ve got to go get Montgomery Lake Creek next week, th... Click here to read full article
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