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The Sumter County High School Football Team (SCHS) got a chance to work out the kinks when the Panthers took the field at Alton Shell Stadium to face the Monroe Tornadoes (MHS) for a Friday night pre-season scrimmage. Thanks in part to two touchdown receptions by Corderian Leverett and a few turnovers forced by the SCHS defense, the Panthers were able to come away with a 21-6 win over the Tornadoes.

While SCHS Head Coach Will Rogers was pleased with the outcome, he is well aware that this was just a scrimmage and that there is much work to be done between now and when the Panthers start the regular season for real at Crisp County in a couple of weeks.

“I am happy that we got the win, but we have a lot of room for improvement,” Rogers said. “We have to continue to mature and eliminate the silly mistakes.”

The Panthers were able to move the ball into scoring position early in the first quarter thanks to the strong ground game of running back Aaron Kearse. However, a couple of plays later, Montae Reese was about to score a touchdown, but fumbled the ball out of bounds, resulting in a touchback.

The Tornadoes took advantage on their next possession by moving the football into the red zone and scoring a touchdown. The extra point attempt was no good, but the Panthers found themselves trailing 6-0.

Early in the second quarter, the SCHS defense was able to force MHS into a fourth down situation and got the ball back on downs thanks to a great defensive play. Then the offense went to work, as quarterback Ishmael Jones threw a long touchdown pass to Corderian Leverett. The extra point was good and SCHS had a 7-6 lead with 9:05 left before halftime.

A few minutes later, the Panther defense was able to force a fumble and the offense recovered the ball at about the MHS 26-yard line. However, Jones’s pass was picked off in the end zone and the Tornadoes got the ball at their own 20-yard line for another touchback.

Fortunately for SCHS, the defense was able to get the ball back to the offense and the Panthers were able to mount a drive into MHS territory, but the drive stalled and SCHS was forced to punt.

As the clock was winding down to end the first half, the Tornadoes were able to make a big passing play, moving the ball into SCHS territory. However, the SCHS defense once again made a stop and the Tornadoes were forced to turn the ball over on downs. At this point, both teams headed to their respective locker rooms at halftime with the Panthers leading 7-6.

Neither team could do anything on offense for much of the third quarter, but with a little less than four minutes left in the quarter, quarterback Jayshun Bobbs threw a strike to Leverett for his second touchdown reception. SCHS decided to go for two and succeeded, making the score 15-6 in favor of the Panthers.

The MHS offense responded by moving the ball down to the SCHS 30-yard line, but the Panther defense came up with another big play, as they forced and recovered another fumble. The offense then responded with another drive, moving the football down to the 39-yard line of MHS. However, Bobbs’ pass was intercepted by the Tornadoes and it gave MHS a chance to mount a scoring drive and take the lead.

However, as it had done all night, the defense came up big once again, as the Panthers came up with an interception. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to capitalize offensively, but they still had a 15-6 lead with one more quarter to play.

During the fourth quarter, both teams allowed their junior varsity players to play so that they would gain some experience. With a little less than three minutes left, SCHS quarterback Alex Brown was able to score on a quarterback keeper. The Panthers tried to go for two and failed, but they would go on to win the scrimmage by the score of 21-6.

On Friday, August 16, the Panthers will strap it on for real when they head across the Flint River to take on Crisp County in the season opener. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.