Panthers stay hot with blowout win in home opener

Bryson Bonds-Crawford runs through the Bowsher defense during a 56-18 win in Week 3. / Jeremy Schneider photo

By JEREMY SCHNEIDER

IMA SPORTS

Maumee was supposed to win, and win big.

The Panthers overcame the noise and distractions heading into their home opener against Bowsher, cruising to a 56-18 win at Kazmaier Stadium.

Cody Wulf tackles a Bowsher ball carrier during Week 3's win. / Jeremy Schneider photo

“I told our guys we should dominate, it shouldn’t be close, and we should take care of business,” Maumee coach Evan Karchner said. “Like every Friday, there are distractions. There are distractions when you’re playing a team that’s a little worse than you. I thought we did well overcoming that.”

Maumee improved to 3-0 for the first time in 15 years. It was also the team’s third straight running-clock win.

With an overmatched Bowsher team coming in and a monumental clash with defending Northern Buckeye Conference champion Oak Harbor the week after, staying focused on the Blue Racers (0-3) came down to one thing for the Panthers – focusing on themselves.

“We’re just happy to build some momentum; we’re looking forward to Oak Harbor,” senior wide receiver Carson Graetz said. “Coach reminded us every day, no team is our goal. Oak Harbor isn’t our goal. Springfield isn’t our goal. Bowsher isn’t our goal. The goal is Maumee, to get Maumee to be the best program it can be. Once we shifted the focus to getting ourselves as good as we can, it really wasn’t an issue.”

Maumee piled up points in bunches in the first half, leading 49-0 at halftime.

Cody Wulf opened the scoring with a 13-yard run on the game’s opening possession, which chewed up 4 1/2 minutes and eight plays. Wulf added two more touchdowns in the half, and he finished the game with 63 yards on 10 carries.

Ben Kubicz threw all four of his TD passes in the first half. The first two went to his brother, Will Kubicz, including a 71-yard bomb for a 14-0 lead. Ben Kubicz had TD passes to Carson Graetz and Donovan Mays to round out the half.

Kubicz completed 11-of-13 passes for 213 yards and four scores with no interceptions. The junior has now thrown for 627 yards and 10 TDs while completing 73 percent of his passes.

Braidon Linn caught three passes for 36 yards, and Graetz added three catches. Will Kubicz had two catches for 107 yards, and Mays also had two catches.

“We just had to focus on ourselves,” senior lineman Espn Hurt said. “I think everybody was ready.”

For the second straight week, the Panthers cleared the bench, getting every player on the roster playing time.

“It was good to get all of our young guys in there,” Karchner said. “We even got our backup kicker in. That’s always cool for those kids.”

The wins are now coming fast and furious for the Panthers. They’ve outscored their first three opponents by a combined 156-40 while giving up 187 yards per game.

Next week brings the biggest challenge of the season when Oak Harbor visits. The Rockets moved to 3-0 with a 42-7 win over Port Clinton.

“At some point, you should be expecting to win every game,” Karchner said. “We want expectations. We want people to expect a lot out of us. Sometimes that doesn’t always go your way. Sometimes we’ll let people down, let some of our teammates down, but we’re going to try everything to not do that.”

Photos courtesy of Pride of the Panthers

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