Panthers, Hornets fall to Troy, Canton

by Ed Weaver - October 26, 2020

Local rivals North Penn-Mansfield and Wellsboro were in action on the football field on Friday, October 23. The Panthers hosted the Troy Trojans for the second time this season while the Hornets were on the road in Canton taking on the undefeated Warriors.

Troy 21, North Penn-Mansfield 0

In their second match up of the season at Island Park, the Troy Trojans pitched a shutout against the North Penn-Mansfield Panthers on Friday, October 23.

Troy scored all their points in the first half, starting with a one yard run by Chase Robert and a Caleb Binford kick to make it 7-0. Later in the second quarter QB Dominick Ayres scored a pair of touchdowns, one on the ground from 10 yards out, and the other a 75-yard pass to Nick Williams with 2:08 left in the half.

Ayres finished 8-of-13 for 115 yards passing and rushed 7 times for 46 yards. Binford led all rushers with 22 carries for 164 yards and teammate Damien Landon put up 79 yards on 17 carries. Williams led the Troy receivers with 4 catches for 86 yards.

For the Panthers, QB Colton Litzelman was 11-for-30 for 105 yards and an interception. Kohen Lehman led the Panther ground attack with 21 carries for 72 yards while Noah Spencer and Koleton Roupp led the passing attack with 4 catches for 54 yards and 6 catches for 46 yards, respectively.

—

Canton 39, Wellsboro 13

The Wellsboro Varsity Football team scored two late fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 39-13 loss to Canton on Friday, October 23.

Wellsboro was previously scheduled to play Sayre but postponed mid-week and picked up the Warriors, whose game with Northwest Area was postponed due to COVID-19, on Wednesday afternoon.

Canton’s Cooper Kitchen threw for four first-half touchdowns as the Warriors jumped out to a 26-0 halftime lead. He connected with Weston Bellows twice and Ben Knapp and Joel Schoonover once each. Canton added two more scores, one each in the third and fourth quarters, on short runs by Hayden Ward and Michael Davis to put the Hornets in a 39-0 hole midway through the final quarter.

With 4:15 left sophomore Conner Adams broke the shutout on a 35-yard run to make it 39-7 following sophomore Jack Poirier’s extra point.

Wellsboro added their final score of the evening as time expired on a 3-yard run by senior Nick Smith.

Junior Isaac Keane finished 7-for-19 passing for 134 yards and an interception and Adams completed 3-of-6 passes for 51 yards and an interception. Adams led the Hornet ground attack with 73 yards on 8 carries and sophomore Darryn Callahan finished with 19 yards on 10 attempts. Sophomore Joe Brown led all Hornet receiving corps with 4 catches for 88 yards, including 49-yard catch as the first half ended.

Brown also led the Hornets with 9 tackles and a recovered a fumble. Smith made 7 tackles and recovered a fumble, junior Ryan Sweet made 6 tackles, and senior Danny Timmons had 5 tackles and forced a fumble.

Kitchen was 5-for-11 for 106 yards passing and 4 touchdowns, Riley Parker rushed for 111 on 10 carries, and Bellows caught 3 passes for 85 yards for Canton.

The loss drops the Hornets to 2-3 (2-3 NTL Large School Division) while Canton improves to 4-0 (4-0 NTL Large School Division). The Hornets will host Montgomery on Friday, October 30 at 7:30 p.m.