Tri-County North Panthers escape Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks 38-21

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David Burnworth | October 14, 2023

Thursday Night I made my first drive to Union City, Ohio to watch Tri-County North Panthers visit the Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks in a division seven, region 28 game. The Panthers entered 3-5 and needed a win to inch themselves closer to a playoff slot while the Blackhawks (0-8) were hoping to taste victory for the first time this season.

Kyle Wehrkamp picked up 10 yards for the Blackhawks with 4:56 left in the opening quarter but the 10-play drive would end without any points being scored. In all the drive netted 37 yards ending with a punt.

On the ensuing drive, the Panthers got a 79-yard touchdown run from Colton Vanwinkle to go up 6-0 with Mason Givens being true on his point after kick we had a 7-0 game with 3:12 left on the clock. Vanwinkle is a solid 6-1, 205 pounds back who has power and enough speed to outrun the Blackhawks defense.

Wehrkampbusted off a big 43-yard run to give the Blackhawks a first and goal at the Panthers 1-yard line. From there Anthony Ibarra plowed in for the score. Phoniex Mote locked things up at seven with his point-after kick with 0:30 seconds left in the quarter.

The Panthers would get a 14-yard run from Vanwinkle for the last big play of the opening quarter. The drive continued into the 2nd quarter where Vanwikle converted a fourth and two with a 20-yard run. Vanwinked hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass to cap off the drive to make this a 14-7 game at the 9:33 mark of the quarter.

The Blackhawks would get a 30-yard catch from Ibarra who broke a tackle after catching the pass from Wehrkamp. Werkamp closed the drive out on his 13-yard touchdown run making this a 14-13 game as a to-point conversion try failed.

The Panthers wasted little time in responding to the Blackhawks score with Vanwinkle racing 42 yards for a score on another long run where he was not touched. Peyton Fannin ran the two-point try in making this a 22-13 game with 3:55 left in the half.

Twenty seconds later Fannin scooped up a Werkamp fumbled and raced 32 yards for the touchdown to make this a 29-13 game. The Panthers ended the big plays of the half when Vanwinked sacked Werkanp for a short loss. Vanwinkle was a stud on both sides of the ball for the Panthers all game long.

The 2nd half got off to a horrendous start for the home team when Werkamp fumbled the ball in the endzone he would recover it but a safety was the result to give the Panthers the 31-13 lead. On the ensuing free kick, the Panthers return team stood around while a diving #82 pounced on the ball to give the Blackhawks a first down. Werkanp would give the ball back to the Panthers when he was picked off by Fannin with 9:26 left in the third.

#82 was back at work for the Blackhawks when he recorded a sack causing the Panthers a 6-yard loss. London Oftenbacker made a nice catch only to fumble the ball where Robert Roth pounced on it for the Blackhawks. The turnover fest would continue a short time later when Werkamp coughed put the ball on the ground and Aiden Ritchie came up with it for the Panthers. Vanwinkle would break a tackle on his way to a 79-yard touchdown run with 2: 48 left in the quarter making this a 38-13 game.

The Blackhawks would put together a 12-play 66-yard drive in the final frame that was capped off by a 26-yard touchdown run by Ibarra followed by a two-point catch by Bryce Watson giving us the final points in this one making the ending score 38-21. On the ensuing kickoff, the Blackhawks would come up with the ball thanks to a nice play by Storm Mote. The Panthers defense would make two nice plays to close the game out. Ofternbacker would record a sack and Vanwinkle came up with a pick.

My Stats

Panthers

42 plays

3232 yards

Passing, 1-4 1 TD, 1 INT

Blackhawks

74 plays

357 plays

Passing, 17-36 2 ints

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