DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
The Pioneer Panthers had no answers for South Adams Friday night.
The Starfires’ style of play left the visiting team befuddled as they found themselves facing a 35-point deficit with seconds left in the second quarter.
With 13 seconds, to be exact, the Panthers took their sixth possession down 42-7 and they attempted to hurry to try to score before the second half would be played on a running clock. Instead, Will Patterson picked off a pass and ran it back for his second pick-six in three minutes of game play.
The Starfire offense, led Friday night by Wes Summersett, simply crushed the spirit of the Panthers. When the visitors came back from halftime, down 49-7, they barely warmed up for the running clock.
Summersett finished the night in his final appearance in a South Adams uniform as a Starfire athlete in front of a home crowd with eight touches and four touchdowns. He also had three solo tackles on defense.
The game started out as a classic shootout between two teams who had been thinking about playing each other on this night since last year’s semi-state game, which was won by Pioneer.
The only mistake on the first five combined drives was a fumble on Pioneer’s opening drive. By the time Wes Summersett ran it in from five yards out, it meant that the Starfires enjoyed a 21-7 lead, even though both teams were moving the ball well.
The fumble bug bit Pioneer on the very first play of the subsequent drive and it meant disaster for the Panthers. Summersett scored again two plays later.
The next three pass attempts by Pioneer all resulted in interceptions, with two of them going for the Will Patterson pick-sixes and another going to Blake Hoffman on a tipped ball that was gift-wrapped for the DB, who made a great diving play.
South Adams rested their entire starting corps and handed it over to the JVs to see out the running clock. Pioneer scored twice on the second-string defense and actually surpassed the Starfires in total offense by the end of the night because of it.
Along with the five turnovers, the Starfires also had a unique statline with Memphis Torre, the backup QB for the home team, finishing 2-for-2. His second completion was to himself after having the ball tipped in the air by an incoming pass rusher.
The starting Starfire QB, Zaden Baumer, was excellent on the ground with 73 yards rushing, no negative plays and a touchdown. He threw for three scores and 147 yards on 11 of 17 passing.
Jax Wanner had three catches for 29 yards.
Shiloh Rine ended the night with 127 yards rushing and a score. Colton Popejoy had 84 yards rushing, with 69 of them coming on his final two touches before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with an injury.
Branson Rigby was a perfect 7 for 7 on extra points and did an excellent job on kickoffs.
SCORING SUMMARY
Quarter One
8:17 – SA – Zaden Baumer 8-yd run, Branson Rigby PAT good, 7-0
3:33 – SA – Wes Summersett 33-yd catch from Zaden Baumer, Rigby PAT Good, 14-0
Quarter Two
9:38 – P – Colten Long 2-yd run, Phillip McFatridge PAT good, 14-7
6:40 – SA – Wes Summersett 5-yd run, Rigby PAT good, 21-7
5:42 – SA – Wes Summersett 17-yd catch from Baumer, Rigby PAT good, 28-7
3:00 – SA – Will Patterson 47-yd interception return, Rigby PAT good, 35-7
:19 – SA – Wes Summersett 13-yd catch from Baumer, Rigby PAT good, 42-7
:00 – SA – Will Patterson 62-yd interception return, Rigby PAT good, 49-7
Quarter Three
3:15 – P – Shiloh Rine 12-yd run, McFatridge PAT good, 49-14
Quarter Four
9:17 – P – Colton Popejoy 16-yd run, McFatridge PAT good, 49-21
About the Author
