Panthers Come Up Short on the Road

By JIM CROSS
LR News Contributor

The Ashdown Panthers went on the road to battle the Fountain Lake Cobras. It was an exciting game to watch with many ups and downs for both teams scrambling for an elusive win.

The Cobras held off the Panthers’ valiant effort with a 34-21 home victory. Fountain Lake scored quickly in the first quarter to take a 6 to 0 lead. The Panthers fought back with a 1-yard touchdown run by Jaxon Jester and a successful point after kick by Alex Keilbach to take a 7 to 6 lead.

Fountain Lake would score twice more before halftime to take a 20 to 7 lead into the locker room. In the third quarter, the Panthers would score twice on a 6-yard pass from Keliback to freshman wide receiver Shamar Easter and then a 1-yard touchdown burst by freshman Jonathan Mcelroy.

Fountain Lake also scored once in the third and fourth quarters to put the exciting game away. The offensive line had a nice game by giving quarterback Alex Keilbach nice protection. The five guys protecting Keilbach were the Farmer Bureau Player of the Game Joe Paredes, along with brother Alex, Cole Smith, Dillon Reed and Jacob Formby.

Keilbach finished with 185 yards passing. Jonathan Mcelroy was the leading rusher with 73 yards. Shamar Easter, Jaxon Jester and Blake Ritter combined for 14 receptions.Defensively, Carter Bowman stood out along with freshman Adrian Fondren, who made several tackles along with senior Delrae Smith.

The Panthers finished the season with two wins and eight losses. Coach Matt Richardson was appreciative of the efforts of the senior class but is excited about the future of Panther football.