Panthers Fall to GLAC Power Olivet
Going into the season, the Stockbridge football team knew the early part of their schedule was going to be tough and after three games it was just that as the Panthers fell to GLAC power Olivet 39-6 in the home opener September 13 to fall to 0-3 overall on thee season.
The Panther schedule to start the season had two state playoff teams in Grass Lake and Olivet, and a team that just missed the playoffs in Dundee and the Panthers struggled in all three games.
Against Olivet, the Panthers used a slow-paced offense, letting the play clock run below five seconds nearly every play to try to slow down the high powered Eagles offense. Olivet was averaging 41 points a game going into the contest and the slow down game by the Panthers worked for a while.
The Panthers defense slowed the Eagles early in the first quarter, but could not make the big play to get off the field. They forced a 4th and 8 on the first drive only to have Olivet go for it and convert on a long run to set up a touchdown pass for a 7-0 lead.
Olivet would core one more time before the end of the first for a 14-0 lead after one.
The Panthers converted a long pass play to move to the Olivet 35 yard line but shot themselves in the foot with three straight penalties and a quarterback sack to set up second and 45 and the drive would stall.
Olivet would score twice more before the end of the half, with one of the scores a 58 yard TD run on fourth down to take a 27-0 lead into the break.
The Eagles would add to their lead with a TD run early in the third to make it 33-0 before the Panthers would find paydirt.
Brandon Nelson found the endzone on a 12 yard run in the third to cut the lead to 33-6, but that is as close as the Panthers would get.
Nelson finished 18 of 29 passing for 149 yards and two interceptions.
Cody Freiermuth caught six passes for 65 yards, while Riley Kennedy caught three for 34. Jeremy Pilch caught two for 26, Hunter Thayer four for 22, and Brad Niec one for 2. Josh Lewis led the team in rushing with 47 yards on five attempts.
Pilch led the defense with six tackles and two assists, while Thayer had five solo tackles.
The Panthers will host Petersburg-Summerfield (1-2) in the 2019 Homecoming game Friday night at 7:00 PM. The Homecoming Parade will start at 6:00 PM.
