By: Nick Hall
Collinsville kicker Jason Perez struggled early but came through in the end with a 25-yard overtime field goal to seal the Panthers first region win of the year against a good North Sand Mountain (NSM) football team. In a game that saw Quarterback Landon Green go 19-of-31 for 235 yards and a touchdown, and the Bison put up 385 yards of total offense, four turnovers and 11 penalties totaling 112 yards would ultimately be too much for Head Coach Keith Kirby’s Bison to overcome.
The game was scoreless at the end of the first quarter, but Collinsville drew first blood in the second when Quarterback Kaleb Jones found Mason McKinney on a 65-yard strike to set the Panthers up at the two-yard line. Jarrod Barkley found the end zone on the following play to take a 6-0 lead with 9:07 left in the first half. After a big defensive stand at their own 16, Jones lead the Panthers on an 84-yard touchdown drive. Jones kept the ball three times for 30-yards and passed three times eventually finding Barkley in the end zone on a 16-yard strike to increase Collinsville’s lead to 12-0. NSM took the ensuing kickoff and battled back, driving 75-yards in under a minute before Green connected with Zac Boston at the one-yard line. On the very next play, Green slipped into the end zone on the quarterback keeper. After the third failed PAT of the night for both teams, the halftime score stood at 12-6.
NSM took the opening drive of the second half, but after having first and goal at the Collinsville one-yard line erased by a devastating penalty, the Panther defense came up big with another red zone stop at their own 12. Two fourth quarter fumbles appeared to end any hope for NSM, but the Bison defense gave their quarterback one last chance with 1:10 left and that was enough time for him to send the contest to overtime. Green hit Austin Hill for a 41-yard gain that set up a 55-yard touchdown strike to Colton Pettijohn to tie the ballgame.
NSM took the ball first in overtime and were quickly pushed back to the Panther 20 on a penalty. On the very next play, Green was picked off in the endzone by Jones to end the Bison’s only possession of overtime. Collinsville only needed two plays to set Perez up for the 25-yard game winning field goal. The 15-12 victory lifts 3-0 Collinsville’s region record to 1-0 while 1-1 NSM falls to 0-1 in 2A Region 8 play. NSM travels to Asbury tomorrow night while Collinsville hosts Fyffe.
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