Panthers send message with dominant win at Springfield
- Jeremy Schneider
- Aug 24, 2024
- 3 min read
By JEREMY SCHNEIDER
IMA SPORTS
The second year of the Evan Karchner era at Maumee couldn’t have started much better for the Panthers.
Maumee dominated from the opening kickoff until (almost) the final horn as the Panthers steamrolled host Springfield, 41-8, on Friday night.
The Panthers opened last season with a 27-20 win over the Blue Devils, but this Maumee team was obviously different from the first drive of the game. The Panthers took the opening kickoff down the field on a methodical drive, chewing up nearly nine minutes of game time before Ben Kubicz found Carson Graetz on a 7-yard scoring pass on fourth down.
Maumee had seemingly scored a few plays earlier, but the score was wiped away by a holding penalty. The next couple plays couldn’t break the goal line, but when faced with a decision of kicking a field goal or going for the TD on fourth down, Karchner said he put his faith in his offensive coaches.
“We were talking it over a little bit,” Karchner said. “I asked coach (Curtis) Schlea and coach (Shane) Kinnee what they thought, and coach Kinnee was confident and he’s like, ‘This play is going to be there.’
“I’ve never doubted coach Kinnee. He works hard, he’s always well prepared. He said that he knew what coverage they were going to be in and he was right. It was picture perfect.”
It didn’t take long for Maumee to add a second score to the board when Cody Wulf bullied his way into the end zone from 1-yard out a little more than one minute into the second quarter.
Kubicz connected with Graetz for the second time in the first half later in the quarter when the senior wideout got free behind the defense and walked into the end zone on a 41-yard TD play.
That gave Maumee three scores on its first three possessions of the game.
Kubicz found twin brother Will Kubicz on a 42-yard scoring pass midway through the third for a 28-0 lead.
Ben Kubicz finished the game with 154 passing yards on 11-of-16 passing. Graetz had six grabs for 73 yards and two scores, and Will Kubicz added 59 yards on two catches and a TD.
Keishon Midcalf posted the final two scores for the Panthers in the fourth quarter, both on 1-yard runs. Midcalf led the game with 129 rushing yards on 21 carries and two scores, and Wulf added 101 yards on 19 rushes and a score.
For the game, Maumee had 240 rushing yards and 394 total yards. The Panthers had four trips inside the red zone and came away with touchdowns each time – three rushes and one pass.
“It gives us a great advantage,” Midcalf said of the Thunder and Lightning combo. “Cody’s our bruising running back and you got me with a little more speed. We’re just trying to get in the end zone, find any way to get in there.”
Karchner added, “We’re really grateful we have two really good running backs. We’re really deep at the running back spot, and we’re trying to use that to our advantage. We’re trying to rotate Cody off the field so he can play defense. He’s a huge piece to our defense.”
While the offense was already well known for putting up tons of points, the Panthers defense was a revelation against the Blue Devils. Maumee allowed 298 yards, 50 of which came on the game’s final play for Springfield’s only score. The Panthers came up with four turnovers and held the Devils to 1-of-5 on third-down conversions.
“We’ve put a lot of work in on the defense, that’s our main thing” Midcalf said. “We’re trying to get the ball back, get our offense on the field, get some touchdowns.”
Maumee now turns its focus to a Week 2 road trip to Bryan (0-1). The Golden Bears lost their first game at Van Wert, 48-8. Bryan won last year’s matchup with Maumee, 42-35.
Photos courtesy of Pride of the Panthers
Reach IMA at insidemaumeeathletics@gmail.com
MAUMEE 41, SPRINGFIELD 8
Maumee 7 14 7 13 – 41
Springfield 0 0 0 8 – 8
Scoring summary: MAU – Carson Graetz 7 pass from Ben Kubicz (Blake Wagener kick); MAU – Cody Wulf 1 run (Wagener kick); MAU – Graetz 41 pass from Kubicz (Wagener kick); MAU – Will Kubicz 42 pass from B.Kubicz (Wagener kick); MAU – Keishon Midcalf 1 run (Wagener kick); MAU – Midcalf 1 run (kick blocked); SPR – Nate Pape 50 pass from Team (Kaiden Taylor run).
Stat leaders: MAU – Keishon Midcalf 21 rushes-129 yards-2 TDs; Cody Wulf 19 rushes-101 yards-1 TD; Ben Kubicz 11-16-154 yards-3 TDs-1 INT; Carson Graetz 6 catches-73 yards-2 TDs; Will Kubicz 2 catches-59 yards-1 TD.
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