Charleston Craddock was adamant and to the point when he described the defensive gameplan for the Duncanville defense. “Execute!”, is what he said the plan was and it was evident in the Panthers’ 34-0 shutout win over Lancaster.
Craddock, James Mitchelland linebacker Anthony Cruz led the charge as Lancaster quarterback Rod Hudson III struggled to find time to set his feet and find an open receiver. The Panthers’ secondary was also impressive. Lancaster wide receivers LaTrell Caplesand Majik Rectorstruggled to perform, in part because of the Duncanville secondary. But it moreso had to do with the Tigers’ offensive line not being up to the task of dealing with the Panthers’ front 7. The Tigers had the outside threats to compete with the Panthers but ultimately, the battle was lost in the trenches.
It was also the same on the defensive side of the ball for the Tigers.
Offensively, QB JaQuinden Jackson led the Panthers’ offense on the ground and in the air. Jackson set up kicker Victor Escalona with a 35 yard field goal to open the scoring after a nice 55 yard run into Lancaster territory to make it 3-0. On the next drive, Jackson hooked up with Karien Howard for a deep ball into Tiger territory. The Jackson-Howard hookup setup an 8 yard TD run by Trysten Smith that gave the Panthers a 10-0 lead. Jackson then suffered an injury scare a drive later. However, on the very next drive, Jackson scampered 28 yards to the Tiger 19 yard line to setup another Panther score. That score came on the next play as Jackson found receiver Anthony Jones in the end zone for a 19 yard pitch and catch to push the score to a 17-0 2nd quarter lead. The Panther offense was rolling but the next Panther score came via the defense. While being sacked in his own territory, Lancaster QB Rod Hudson III also loss control of the ball and that’s when Charleston Craddock recovered it for a Panther touchdown to stretch the lead even further. Escalona added another field goal right before halftime to make it 27-0, and the Panthers finished off Lancaster with a heavy dose of running in the second half. Karien Howard added a late TD on a QB keeper to make the score 34-0.
Lancaster must hurry up and put this one behind them. Next week, head coach Chris Gilbert and the 0-1 Tigers will travel to Mesquite to take on the West Mesquite Wranglers. Coach Reginald Samples and his 1-0 Duncanville Panthers will take a small trip to Kincaide Stadium to take on his alma mater, the Dallas South Oak Cliff Golden Bears. Can the Tigers bounce back and even up in the win column? Can the Panthers keep rolling to 2-0,or will SOC pull the rug from under them?
