Panthers leave no doubts in huge win at Bryan

Keishon Midcalf gets past the Bryan defense on his way to a 61-yard touchdown on Friday night. / Jeremy Schneider photo

By JEREMY SCHNEIDER

IMA SPORTS

Maumee entered the football season with one of the best and deepest collections of offensive skill players in the area.

But on Friday night, it was a sophomore playing in just his second varsity game who stole the show.

Eli Dodson torched host Bryan during a 56-14 win on Friday night, hauling in five catches for 204 yards and three touchdowns.

“That was huge for Eli,” Maumee coach Evan Karchner said. “As a sophomore, we wanted to get him in the end zone. I wanted him to catch a punt where guys are running down on him. When Carson (Graetz) leaves, that’s our next guy.”

Quarterback Ben Kubicz threw for 260 yards on 8-of-12 passing with three scores. And on the ground, Keishon Midcalf rushed for 121 yards on only 10 carries with two TDs.

All together, the Panthers (2-0) totaled 483 yards and averaged 10.5 yards per play in avenging last year’s 42-35 loss to the Golden Bears (0-2).

“Bryan has beat up on us the last few years, especially on defense,” Karchner said. “We still wanted to take that step forward and be physical and tough.

“That was a good, solid win. I thought we did well on both sides of the ball. We’ve just got to keep building and moving forward.”

Maumee started the game shaky, which Karchner attributed to both the heat and long bus ride, but it got things rolling late in the first half. Midcalf took the handoff and raced 61 yards for the score with just more than two minutes to play in the quarter.

“I don’t know what it was,” senior lineman Pierce Simpson said. “I don’t know if we were trying to get in the flow and feel them out, but we were more prepared. We’re bigger, faster and stronger.”

After Robbie Burlew recovered a Bryan fumble deep in its territory, Cody Wulf scored from 19 yards out on the next play.

Then early in the second quarter, Kubicz and Dodson put the game out of reach, connecting on a 74-yard scoring strike 21 seconds into the quarter.

The Panthers tacked on four more scores in the second quarter. Midcalf carried it in from 26 yards out; Carson Graetz took it in from 35 yards away; Bryson Bonds-Crawford scored from 1 yard out; and Kubicz found Dodson on a 58-yard TD pass.

The Golden Bears scored twice in the second quarter to make the halftime margin 42-14, giving Maumee a running clock in the second half.

Dodson and Kubicz connected in the third quarter, on a 58-yard scoring pass, and again in the fourth, on a 34-yard TD pass.

The Panthers will move on to face Bowsher on Friday at Kazmaier Stadium. The Blue Racers (0-2) lost to Genoa, 38-8, in Week 2.

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