by Steve Bradley
The Panthers’ final football game of the season was played Saturday morning October 29 at Stillwater. The game against the Stillwater Warriors (7-2) was a first half shootout where the teams combined for 31 points in the first quarter and 45 points by the half.[private] Ironically, neither team was able to put up any points in the entire second half.
In first quarter action, during a rainstorm, Stillwater took a 7-0 lead, then the Panthers (4-5) came back with an 81 yard pass from quarterback Aaron Tomczak to David Everard to get to within one after a failed PAT.
Stillwater’s Max Lautenberg booted a 32 yard field goal and Ezra Echeandia scored on a TD on a 24 yard run to give the Warriors a 17-6 lead. Hoosick Falls countered with a score of its own when Lucas Brogue hauled in a 45 yard pass from Tomczak. The same combo hooked up for the PAT pass to add two to the Panthers score, leaving them within three of the Warriors at 17-14.
Stillwater put the game away in the second quarter when they scored twice, once on a five yard run and once on a six yard pass. The kicked PAT’s were good for both, giving the Panthers a 31-14 deficit that they couldn’t overcome.
Tomczak threw for 260 yards on 19 of 34 attempts and ran 14 times for 51 yards, while Drew Hoag rushed 13 times for 47 yards. Stillwater’s Echeandia rushed 27 times for 200 yards. Everard caught two passes for 85 yards.[/private]