Panthers come back to beat Lancaster
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sweet Home's Noah Nwachukwu is wrapped up as he makes a sideline run during the Panthers' 34-14 road win at Lancaster last Friday. Photo by Patrick McPartland Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Sweet Home came out of the gates poorly at Lancaster on Friday night but left with their arms high in the air with a victory.

The Panthers overcame four fumbles, including two in the first half, and a 14-0 deficit, to win their opener, 34-14.

Trailing 14-0, Sweet Home outscored the Redskins, 26-0, in the second quarter, to secure the lead for good. A Marcus Johnson 4-yard touchdown run along with TD passes from Casey Kacz to Ryan Gutt (13 yards), Manny Reed (19 yards) and Will Reese (10 yards) led the Panthers.

"A lot of teams would have caved in but they persevered and stayed with it," said Sweet Home coach John Faller.

Kacz, making his varsity debut behind center, finished 15 for 18 for 260 yards and three TDs. A 33-yard pass to Richard Rush in the fourth quarter led to a 21-yard TD run by Johnson. Kacz also threw two-point conversions to Johnson and John Elliott. Backup QB Mike Wolcott was 1 for 1 for 29 yards.

The Sweet Home offense tallied 413 total yards (289 passing, 124 rushing). Johnson led the Panthers' ground attack with 20 carries for 83 yards. Seven different Sweet Home receivers caught a ball. Reese hauled in six catches for 87 yards and a TD. Gutt had three receptions for 51 yards and a TD.

Defensively, Johnson had two interceptions, Deshanaro Morris had one interception and Ibrahim Ramadan recovered a fumble.

Matt Speyer caught a 5-yard TD, Marcellus Jones recovered a fumble eight yards for a score and Marshawn Slaughter had a six-yard TD run for Lancaster's points.

Sweet Home (1-0) hosts Grand Island at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com