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A 41-point first half against the Cowanesque Valley Indians improved the North Penn-Mansfield Panther football team to 3-2 on the season.

The Panthers wasted little time, in fact, it took only 17 seconds for the visitors to score the game’s first points. Mikah Kolb opened up the scoring on a 29-yard touchdown run that went right up the middle of the Indian defense. Just over a minute later Brent Burleigh connected with Garrett David from 21 yards out to make it 14-0 with 10:13 still showing on the clock.

North Penn-Mansfield scored twice more before the first quarter came to an end. With 6:24 remaining, Burleigh found Sawyer Freeman open in the CV secondary for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 21-0, then with 2:06 left David broke free on a 44-yard run to make it 27-0.

The Panthers added two more scores in the second quarter as Burleigh threw his third touchdown pass of the evening, this time to Justin Shedd from 43 yards out, then Shedd later scored on the ground on a 24-yard run with 7:30 left to increase the lead to 41-0.

The third quarter started out scoreless and stayed 41-0 in favor of North Penn-Mansfield until Cowanesque Valley’s defense dropped one of the Panther running backs in the end zone for a safety with 3:45 left. The Panthers answered back right away, however, as Bryan Bogaczyk scored from 10 yards out.

Cowanesque Valley’s offense finally cracked the end zone with 1:24 left in the quarter as Seth Huyler broke free on a 69-yard run. The Indians’ two-point conversion pass attempt failed, and North Penn-Mansfield led 48-8 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Panthers found the end zone once more on the night in the final frame as Colton Litzleman and Mitchael Tice connected from 3 yards out to bring the final score to 54-8.

Burleigh finished with 146 yards on 7-for-10 passing with 3 touchdowns, David gained 84 yards rushing on 4 carries, Kolb picked up 63 yards on 7 carries, and Bogaczyk finished with 73 yards on 7 attempts. Shedd caught 3 passes for 67 yards and Freeman caught 2 for 45.

Next up for North Penn-Mansfield (3-2, 3-0 NTL Large School Division) is Wyalusing (1-4, 0-3 NTL Large School) on Friday, September 28 at Island Park. The Panthers will also celebrate Homecoming during that game.