John Paul II coach Chris Myers knew Pinewood Prep wanted a shootout Thursday night at Charleston Southern University, and Myers’ Golden Warriors used all the ammunition they could, but they ran out in the fourth quarter.
The host Panthers scored a pair of late touchdowns sandwiched around a turnover deep in JPII territory to escape with a 48-36 victory despite 464 total yards from the Golden Warriors’ offense.
A trio of Golden Warriors topped the 100-yard rushing mark — quarterback Christian Tilton, Mark Knight, and Jackson Ogden — but JPII left too many points off the board as a consequence of missed opportunities. The Golden Warriors turned it over in the red zone in the first half and also failed on a fourth-and-goal before the break, and the defense let two interceptions slip through its hands.
Nonetheless, JPII went toe-to-toe with the Panthers all night, answering punch after punch. After Pinewood needed only two plays to find the end zone on the opening drive, Tilton took the ensuing kickoff back 88 yards and added the two-point run to give JPII a narrow lead, and after a Peter Hughes pick in the end zone, Knight broke off a 65-yard run on an option pitch to make it 14-7
The lead pinballed back and forth, with Tilton answering a Panthers TD drive with a 50-yard TD run on the next play from scrimmage and scoring again just before halftime to give JPII a 30-22 lead at the break. Pinewood scored a pair of touchdowns after halftime to take the lead, but Tilton and Ogden hooked up for a 30-yard TD pass to tie it at 36.
That was the last time the Golden Warriors found the end zone, though, as the Panthers scored a pair of late touchdowns to close out a wild win.
Tilton rushed for 107 yards and a TD and went 8-of-18 passing for 107 yards with a TD and an interception and took a kickoff back for a touchdown to lead an impressive offensive performance. Knight had a team-high 120 yards and a TD on the ground and caught a 15-yard pass, while Ogden rushed 13 times for 100 yards and had five catches for 74 yards and a TD.
Hughes had a monster game on defense with 13 tackles, two tackles for loss, and an interception, while Sebastian Slusne added eight tackles (four for loss) and two sacks, Michael Carbone had nine tackles, and Tony Hill contributed eight stops.
JPII (1-2) travels to Thomas Heyward for its final non-region game next Friday.
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