Disappointing loss ends winless year

By STEVE SNYDER
Lancaster News Editor

The Lancaster Tigers’ season ended in bitter disappointment at Mabank Friday night.  The Tigers could not hold on to a first-half lead and lost 13-12 to end a winless season.  A Matt Ooten extra point — the only one made by either team in the game — gave the Panthers the lead with two minutes left in the third quarter.

However, the game didn’t shape up to turn out that way in the first half.  The Tigers had about 280 yards of total offense in the first half and seemed to have the game well in hand. Unfortunately, they didn’t close the door firmly enough on the Panthers, letting them back in the game.

The Tigers scored both their touchdowns in the second quarter and could have had even more points.  A Dionte Dean fumble stopped a potential early touchdown drive and a penalty on a Kenric Gilbert run erased a sure touchdown.

Mabank received the opening kickoff of the first half and actually lost yards on its first three plays from scrimmage.  A bad punt snap forced them to try for a first on fourth down, but they wound up short.  The Tigers had the ball in Panther territory but were unable to capitalize on the gift of good field position and had to punt back to the Panthers.  Mabank picked up one first down and then had to punt again.

This time, the Tigers got their offense unwound.  Passing more than in previous games, the Tigers quickly moved the ball downfield.  Dean had passes of more than 20 yards to Tim Smith and Dwight Woolridge, and a 22-yard scramble as well.

But the drive failed to produce points.  Dean fumbled the ball at the Panther 9-yard line, allowing the Panthers to dodge a very big bullet.  Mabank got stopped without a first down again, and the Panther punt put the Tigers in good field position at their own 49-yard line.

This time, Lancaster was not to be denied.  Using their superior depth to keep fresh players in the backfield, the Tigers drove to paydirt in eight plays.  Charles Johnson had a 26-yard run and Dean had a 13-yard pass to Ray Branch.  Dean scored from six yards out to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead.

Mabank then managed one first down on its next drive.  The Panther punt gave the Tigers the ball at their own 32-yard line.

This time, it just took one play for the Tigers to score. Dean hit Woolridge with a bomb, a post pattern pass after a play action fake.  Woolridge hauled it at about the Panther 25 and ran in for the touchdown. It was the Tigers’ first passing touchdown since the DeSoto game early this year.  The Tigers went for two but could not convert.

Mabank finally got good field position itself, returning the kickoff outside their 40-yard line. But, after one first down, the Panthers had to punt again.

The Tigers started from their 20, and it looked like they just needed one play to score.  Assisted by a Brandon Bowling block, Gilbert blasted straight up the gut and suddenly found daylight.  He ran the ball 80 yards to the end zone, untouched the last 40 or 50 yards.

But Tiger joy was short-lived.  A yellow handkerchief from the back judge wiped the touchdown off the books as the Tigers were called for an illegal block in the back.

Still, the penalty was near the end of the run and the Tigers had the ball inside the Panther 20 after the penalty was walked off.

But the Tigers couldn’t pick up a first down, let alone find the end zone again.  They went for it on fourth down and failed.

Mabank, with time still on the clock before halftime, made a serious scoring bid.  Brandon Parker broke open on a 63-yard run before finally being corralled inside the Tiger 20. Mabank opted not to try to get into the end zone on the last play of the half and instead tried a field goal. But a botched snap wrecked that and left the Tigers with a 12-0 lead.

Despite the frustrated drive and the Mabank threat, the Tigers looked like they had the game in hand.

However, the Tigers were stopped on their first drive of the second half and Parker gave the Panthers momentum with a 52-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Parker did what it an absolute coach’s nightmare — he fielded the Joseph Thomas punt on the bounce rather than letting it roll.  The move seemed to catch the Tigers’ punt-return team flat-footed. Parker went up the middle of the field untouched to put Mabank on the scoreboard.

The Tigers didn’t seem too phased by the score, though.  They started moving the ball on offense on their next series. But Dean was intercepted in Panther territory to end that threat.

Mabank started just outside its 10-yard line and couldn’t move the ball.  Their punt left the Tigers with the ball in Mabank territory, at the 48-yard line.  This time, though, the Tigers couldn’t move and had to punt back.

A good return gave the Panthers the ball at the Tigers’ 40.  And they wasted little time capitalizing. Brandon Carter scored from three yards out on the third play of the drive.  With the score tied at 12-all, the pressure was on Ooten to give the Panthers the lead.  He came through with a solid kick.

The Tigers bounced back on the kickoff return, with Johnson carrying it 42 yards to the Tiger 44. But the offense couldn’t move from scrimmage and had to punt.

Mabank punted right back, though.  The Tigers picked up one first down, but then Johnson fumbled and Mabank recovered.

The Panthers then put together their longest drive of the game.  They eventually had to punt, but not before keeping the ball for 10 plays.  That left the Tigers with less than two minutes to play and the ball at their 21-yard line.  They picked up one first down, then got to fourth down on the next set of downs.  After Dean used the Tigers’ last timeout, Jackson opted not to try for either a first-down pass or a Hail Mary play.  Instead, he had Dean take a knee to end the game.