May-day in Rockford: May scores 3 TDs as Panthers earn first win

ROCKFORD - Parkway coach Shane Wellman had a short message for Caden May after he was stripped just before crossing the goal line on a 60-plus-yard run early in the first quarter.

"I told him he owes me one after that," Wellman recalled.

May gave him a lot more than one.

The Panther junior went on to score three touchdowns (one rushing, two receiving) in leading Parkway to its first win of the season with a 41-10 throttling of New Bremen on Homecoming night at Panther Stadium.

Justin Barna rushed for two scores and threw to May for two more - a 90-yard bomb in the first half and a 48-yard strike early in the second half, which ignited a streak of 28-unanswered points to end the game for the Panthers (1-4, 1-2 MAC) and secured Wellman's first victory as leader of the program.

"I'm happy for our seniors," Wellman said. "For me, it's great ... but I'm happy for all these guys who have put in so much hard work. I'm happy for our fans who came out to see us put on a good performance on Homecoming. I still remember my senior year when we lost on Homecoming. It kills me still today. So I'm glad these kids are going to have a good Homecoming."

The performance couldn't have been much better for the Panthers, who struggled out of the gate against four teams (Crestview, Spencerville, Fort Recovery and St. Henry) that had a combined 13-3 record entering Friday night.

Parkway and New Bremen traded three-and-outs to open the game. On the Panthers' second drive, May shot through a hole on a jet sweep, made a slick cutback and headed for the end zone. However, New Bremen's Jake Hemmelgarn chased him down and stripped him at the one-yard line. The ball bounced out of bounds at the back of the end zone, and the New Bremen offense took over at the 20.

The Cardinals (2-3, 0-3 MAC) crept close to the red zone on their second drive, but it ended when Andrew Baker intercepted a deep pass attempt by New Bremen's Nolan Bornhorst and fell down at the one-yard line.

Two plays into Parkway's next series, Hemmelgarn and Logan Dicke tackled Cody Kuhn in the end zone for a safety to put New Bremen in front 2-0 with 3:03 left in the first.

Parkway's Justin Rice kicked off the second quarter with an 11-yard run on a fourth-and-inches near midfield. Nick Hawk followed with a 21-yard burst and then May finished off the drive with a 14-yard TD run.

The Cardinals marched into Panther territory on their next series, only to be shut down inside the 10-yard line after two incompletions.

A minute later, Barna put a ball on the money to a streaking May for a 90-yard strike with 4:45 left before half.

New Bremen got on the scoreboard as time expired in the half when Bornhorst found Levi Clem for a 27-yard touchdown. Bornhorst's two-point conversion run made it 13-10.

But that was the last offensive highlight for New Bremen, which totaled just one first down in the second half.

Barna delivered another beautiful ball to May for a 48-yard TD with 6:35 remaining in the third.

"Caden's a talented kid," Wellman said. "You guys saw it tonight. I don't know how many yards he accounted for tonight, but I'm guessing it was a little bit of yardage."

Barna, Parkway's senior QB who's headed to West Point next year, added two more scores via rush later in the half. He made a nice spin move and broke a tackle for a 23-yard score late in the third. He punched in from three yards out early in the fourth.

"It was a good bounce back (for Barna)," Wellman said. "This is the healthiest he's been since Week One, and I think you guys could see that. He had a little more pep in his step. He was throwing the ball better. On the boot (plays), he was getting his depth. On the option, he pulled it and made a pretty nice run down here in the end zone."

"It kind of starts with Barna," New Bremen coach Chris Schmidt said. "He's a big, strong kid. He's got a strong arm. He threw some nice balls down field and they made some nice grabs. Credit to them."

The finishing touches to a dominating second half for Parkway came with 1:10 left in the game, when backup quarterback Preston Stober threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Kinney.

"There were a lot of momentum swings, especially early on," said Schmidt, whose team has now dropped three consecutive games. "I just think there were some times when we didn't execute to the level we needed to and we weren't able to take advantage of some of the swings of momentum like we needed to."

"(Bornhorst) is a talented kid," Wellman added. "He broke a lot of tackles - and he's a freshman. We've got to play him three more years. (Coach Schmidt) does a great job for New Bremen. He does a great job setting things up. I think they played a really good first half. In the second half, we got a couple-score lead and we were able to hit some big plays. I think that was the difference in the game."

May finished the night with 86 rushing yards and 138 receiving. Barna completed 6-of-14 passes for 181 yards and tallied 51 on the ground. Alec Schoenleben added a second-half interception.

Hemmelgarn was New Bremen's leading rusher with 69 yards on seven carries. Bornhorst completed 9-of-18 passes for 76 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Parkway travels to meet Coldwater next Friday. New Bremen hosts Delphos St. John's.