Panthers top Knights

ROCKFORD - During the preseason, new Parkway Head Football Coach Joel Henkle talked about the opening game against Crestview being a test to see if the team has bought in to what the coaching staff has been preaching.

The fourth quarter provided the answer after Crestview tied the game at 20-20 late in the third quarter.

The Panthers scored the go-ahead touchdown with 10 minutes remaining and then forced a fumble on the Knights' ensuing drive en route to a 33-20 win at Panther Stadium for the first win over the Knights since 2011.

"I give the kids the credit," said Henkle, a former Panther player and assistant coach. "They bought in. We've been working on our culture since Day One. Their attitudes have changed and effort has changed. I told them that now is the time to show the results of the work."

The first score of the first half came on the first drive of the game. Nick Hawk carried three straight times for 33 yards, but it was quarterback Eli Rich to run the option for a 27-yard touchdown just 96 seconds into the game.

The Knights countered with an 11-play drive that took 6:18 off the clock. Parkway's defense stiffened and stopped a fourth-and-five pass play at the line of scrimmage to get the ball back. Parkway went on a six-plus minute drive to start its next drive, but stalled out at the Knights' 21.

Crestview went on another long drive spanning eight minutes. Once again, Parkway stopped the drive on a fourth-and-two from the Panther 4. On the next possession, Parkway tried pass and Rich was picked off with Hunter Rothgeb. Three plays later, Jayden Ward hit Caylib Pruett for a 15-yard touchdown with 31 seconds left in the half.

Rather than take the knee and head to the locker room, Parkway attacked. After a run of no gain, Rich found Caleb Kinney for a 63-yard touchdown pass to give Parkway a 13-6 halftime lead.

The Knights scored on their opening drive of the third quarter as Pruett and Brody Brecht, a runnning back who was playing quarterback, pounded the ball on the ground. Brecht punched in from a yard out, but the extra point was no good to keep Parkway in the lead by one.

A solid return put the Panthers at the 50, where they benefited from a pass interference call before Rich hooked up with Hawk for a 31-yard scoring pass to make it 20-12 after the PAT.  

But Brecht and the Knights weren't done as Brecht broke several tackles en route to a 50-yard scoring run on the third play of the ensuing series. Brecht then punched in on the conversion to tie the game with two minutes left in the third.

The Panthers had their only rough drive of the night and Corey Walls punted the ball to the Crestview 29.

That's when the Panthers made their stand. A fumble on the handoff was recovered by Brenden Etzcorn at the 30. After some runs mixed in with a pass, Rich found Jason Luth for an 11-yard score with 10:14 remaining in regulation. The PAT made the score 27-20.

"We talk about brotherhood and how not everything's going to go our way," said Henkle. "When they tied it up, how are we going to overcome it? We could go back to the old Parkway or we can be overcomers and score right away."

The Panthers looked to have held the Knights on an incomplete pass on third-and-15, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called for a player clapping after the play. Two plays later, Mason Landers recovered a fumble at the Crestview 47. Hawk immediately made the play hurt with a 47-yard run to raise Parkway's lead to 33-20. An onside kick was recovered by Parkway, allowing the Panthers to run out the clock.

"The backfield can't do anything without the offensive linemen up front," said Henkle. "They did a good job tonight. A lot of running lanes were open tonight."

Hawk finished with 126 yards rushing on 15 carries. Rich rushed for 50 yards and was 7-of-11 for 148 yards and three scores.

Brecht finished with 199 yards rushing on 29 carries for Crestview.

Parkway (1-0) travels to Spencerville to face the unbeaten Bearcats next Friday. Spencerville defeated Perry in the season opener.