Northland Sports Online

Panthers Are Headed To The Dome


Wes Vork-NSO

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Nov 9, 2012

Dwight Cadwell-NSO


ST. CLOUD- Just one week ago, the South Ridge Panthers advanced to their first state football tournament with a victory over Cromwell in the section 5 9-man championship game and it was the defense which came up big in the section finals. Friday night at Husky Stadium in St. Cloud it was again the Panther’s defense coming up big as the Panthers beat the previously unbeaten Nevis Tigers by a 24-12 margin to move into the state semi-finals next Friday morning at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.


The Panthers defense came up big Friday night by stopping the Tigers on five consecutive fourth quarter drives as the Tigers comeback came up short and South Ridge picked up the huge quarterfinal victory.


The defense has come up big for us all year long, and tonight was more of the same. They battled adversity and believed in each other and did what they had to do to get the job done.” Panthers Head Coach Tony DeLeon stated to Northland Sports Online after the game.


Nevis scored first on Friday night when Collin Huckbody scored the first of his two touchdowns on the night by running in from 1 yard out to take a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.


The Panthers then responded and it was Bill Redding scoring on a 6 yard touchdown run to tie the score at 6-6. A Kody Karppinen two point conversion gave South Ridge an 8-6 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the first half. With time running down in the first half, the Tigers took a lead into halftime when Huckbody scored on a two yard touchdown run with just one second left on the clock to put the Tiers in front 12-8 at the break. The touchdown was set up on a 48 yard pass down to the Panthers two yard line when Huckbody connected with Taylor Chase on the quarter’s final drive.


Nevis, kicking off to start the second half would use a short high kick, which landed between several Panther players was recovered by Nevis. Three plays later the Tigers score on a 27 yard touchdown pass from Huckbody to Chase, giving the Tigers an 18-8 lead at that point. The Tigers then used another short high onside kick, which for the second consecutive time was successful and it looked like the Tigers were ready to blow this one away.


However, a fumble by Huckbody which was recovered by the Panther led to a Bill Redding touchdown as Karppinen hit Redding on the screen pass and Redding scampered 42 yards to paydirt. Karppinen added his second two point conversion and the Panthers cut the Tigers lead to 18-16.


A second fumble by the Tigers shortly thereafter would set up South Ridge and Kody Karppinen with a 2 yard run and conversion and it was a 24-18 lead after three quarters.


“We’re going to the dome!” exclaimed an excited Karppinen, who’s three conversion runs were the difference in the game.

Neither team realized it at the time, but that was the last of the scoring as the Panthers came up huge in the fourth quarter by stopping Nevis three times on fourth down. Robby McQuade also picked off his third interception of the game to stop another drive and help preserve the Panthers victory.


“That kid sure has a nose for the ball,” stated DeLeon of his defensive standout McQuade. “He’s the kind of kid who brings out the best in everyone around him.”McQuade, who now has five interceptions in the past two games credited more of a total team effort. “I got the pick, but we all stepped it up big at the end. Everyone doing their job and believing in the guy beside them is what got us the win. We’re going to the dome!!”


The Tigers had one last drive with 1:05 remaining in the 2nd half but an errant throw into the end zone ended the Tigers scoring chance as the game came to an end at Husky Stadium Friday night.


“We came up big tonight. We had a lot of guys step up, Devon Lee played hurt and tried to do what he could, that’s the kind of effort that inspires the rest of us,” senior captain Walker Kuhlman stated after the game, adding. “In the fourth quarter I told everyone, this is the biggest series of the game on that first drive… then on the second, on the third, on the fourth and on the fifth. But we hung together and our defense did what they had to do and we got it done.”


In one of the more incredible turn arounds in sports, the Panthers went from winning just one game in the past two years to competing for a state championship in the Metrodome under the direction of first year Head Coach DeLeon. “The feeling is hard to describe, this is fun, football is fun, our coach makes everything fun. We run in practices, but that isn’t all we do he mixes it up, he is just a good coach.”

The Panthers earned their 11th straight victory and improve to 11-1 overall on the season. The Panthers will face Grand Meadow in the State 9-man Semi-Finals at 9:00 am next Friday morning. Grand Meadow defeated Mountain Lake Area Friday night by a score of 34-20 to advance to the state semifinals.


“I’m excited for the kids, they are the ones who put in the hard work and took ownership of the program. We’re also very happy as a team to be representing the school, the Big North Conference, and making IDS-2142 proud,” explained DeLeon.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com


Wes Vork-NSO

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