Collierville breaks seesaw trend with win over Panthers
By Thomas Sellers, Jr.
West10/Legacy Media
The Collierville Dragons entered Friday night with a couple of missions.
Hosting the Region 7-6A rivals Bartlett Panthers, the Dragons wanted to secure another league win to stay in first place. In order to do that Collierville needed to stop the trend of winning a game and then losing the next contest.
After starting the season 2-2 taking on top teams in the Mid-South, Collierville dominated Region foe Arlington the previous week. The Dragons jumped out 24-0 over Bartlett by the second quarter leading to the 38-20 win.
Cayson Stanford to Marshall Smith Jr. 30-yard touchdown pass got Collierville rolling in the first quarter. Ahead 7-0, the Dragons added three points when Hayden Hollenback drilled a 48-yard field goal.
The Dragons (4-2, 2-0 in Region 7-6A) led 17-0 by the end of the opening period in the Collierville Football Stadium.
Lawrence Autry got into the scoring act for the Dragons catching a 35-yard TD pass from Stanford to make the tally 24-0.
Bartlett (2-4, 1-1) got on the scoreboard before the break after a big kickoff return by Victor Tapia set the Panthers up in good field position. Moments later Jaibriel Bowers took a carry 3 yards into the end zone to make the score 24-7.
The halftime score was 24-13 when Trey Griffin hit Pierce Washington for a 40-yard touchdown pass for the Panthers.
Both teams scored a touchdown in the third quarter with Autry rushing for a 10-yard score for the Dragons. Bowers joined the Two-Touchdown Club alongside Autry with a 4-yard score bringing the Panthers to within 11 points.
To close out the scoring and ice the game, Autry added his third score of the game with a 1-yard TD run.
The Panthers will return home this Friday and take on the challenge of one of the best teams in Tennessee Pearl-Cohn. The Dragons look to start a winning streak this week welcoming the Craigmont Chiefs.
