It took less than 60 seconds for Ray-Pec to establish control in tonight’s game at Lee’s Summit North, a 35-23 victory. And they were able to do it in only four plays.
Leading 14-7 with a just under a minute to go in the first quarter, the Panthers fumbled a punt return and Lee’s Summit North recovered. The Broncos took a shot at the end zone but Carlton Perkins’ pass was picked off by Gunnar Griffin.
On the very next play, Panther quarterback Conrad Hawley found Hudson Bailey deep down the middle of the field for an 80-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-7.
After a touchback on the kickoff, Ray-Pec picked off another Perkins pass to start the next drive, this one by Gavin Hembree. And once again just one play later, Hawley threw another touchdown pass, this one to Luke Grimm from 29 yards away.
Just like that it was 28-7 with 8 seconds still to play in the first quarter.
“That’s usually not something that happens,” Ray-Pec head coach Tom Kruse said of the wild end to the first quarter. “You have to give our defense credit. They’ve been pretty good up front and in the secondary. And the pass game was big for us in the first half.”
The Broncos like to play straight man in the secondary, and the Panthers weren’t shy about trying to exploit that. Along with those touchdown throws at the end of the quarter, Hawkley’s first touchdown pass of the game was a 61-yarder to Grimm.
“We’re just licking our chops,” Hawley said when they see the man defense. “If you give us that we know where the ball is going. The O-line was great. They gave me just enough time to set my feet.”
Added Kruse: “The big pass plays set the tone. Conrad threw a few very deep balls on the money right in stride.”
For North, they were able to calm the storm a bit as the game went on, including a late rally in the fourth quarter, but the early deficit was too much to overcome.
“That put them in control quickly,” North head coach Jamar Mozee said. “We were able to settle down, but that’s a hard hill to climb.”
The Broncos started strong when linebacker Kienen Gaskin picked up a Gabe Sappington fumble at midfield and scored for a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
But that lead wouldn’t last long. Two plays later when Hawley and Grimm hooked up for their first score, and then after North was forced to punt on its next possession, the Panthers blocked the punt. The ball went soaring into the air and right into the arms of lineman Gerald Schiele, and he rumbled into the end zone to make it 14-7.
“We just blocked their guy into the punter,” Kruse said. “It went up and right into his (Gerald’s) hands and he made a play.”
If one blocked punt for a score wasn’t enough, Ray-Pec did it again late in the third quarter. This time, Tyler Shuey blocked the punt and recovered it in the end zone for the score. That made it 35-10.
“The two punt blocks were huge,” Mozee said.
The Broncos added a couple of scores late on a Perkins 2-yard run and a 9-yard touchdown pass. With just one week before the playoffs, they will try to right the ship as two straight losses have dropped them to 4-4 on the season.
“My job is to keep the moral up,” Mozee said. “We know we can play with any team.”
The Panthers are now 6-2 on the season and are trending in the other direction, having won three straight after a difficult loss at Park Hill.
“We went all out tonight,” Hawley said. “We’re on a revenge tour. We’re trying to get revenge on teams that beat us last year. Our focus has been ridiculous. We’re dialed in at all times.”
Ray-Pec finishes the regular season next week at Lee’s Summit West, while the Broncos travel to Blue Springs South.
