Panthers rally late, fall short at Williams

BURLINGTON – The Morehead Panthers found themselves in a 21-0 halftime hole rallied in the second half with three scores, but came out on the short end of the stick at Burlington Williams, 28-18.
Trailing 28-0, the Panthers got on the scoreboard when senior quarterback Juwaan Winfield raced 53-yards for a touchdown.
Winfield, who finished with a game-high 176 yards rushing, also threw a touchdown pass – a 33-yard hookup to A.J. Artis with 1:28 left in the game.
“This team showed they have some character and some heart and they could have packed it in going into this game, but they didn’t,” said MHS head coach Jason Smart. “Juwaan had a good running game and that helped us establish a passing game later in the night.”
Smart added, “About three scenarios came into play and if you take two of those away, we win the game. We played much better on defense Friday.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, trailing 28-6, Antonio Scales rushed in from four-yards out and despite a second failed conversion Morehead had narrowed the deficit to 28-12.
The Panthers scored again on the Winfield to Artis TD pass, but time was on the side of the Bulldogs.
With the loss, Morehead dropped to 0-5 in the Mid-State 3-A Conference and 2-7 overall. Williams improved to 3-2 in conference play and 5-3-1 overall.
The Panthers’ opponents do not get any easier as they host Northern Guilford (5-0, 8-1) Friday night. The Nighthawks had no problems disposing of Rockingham County 63-7 Friday and have outscored their last two opponents – RCHS and McMichael – 119-14.
Morehead then closes out the season with Rockingham County at home on Nov. 6.
Williams struck two in the first quarter as quarterback Grover Moore tossed a pair of TD passes. Moore, who was coming off a 7-interception game against Western Alamance two weeks ago, hit De’zian Lathan on a 28-yard pass play and late in the first quarter connected with Hunter Spriggs on an 88-yard bomb.
Moore finished the game 9 of 14 for 170 yards and no INTs.
Winfield was 8 of 20 passing for 94 yards with one TD and one INT.
Despite falling behind 21-0 at halftime, the difference-maker could have been Gary Baldwin’s 19-yard return off a blocked punt that gave Williams its 28-0 lead halfway through the third period.
“We needed to score twice in the third and hold them, but Williams scored and got it to 28,” said Smart.
Avery Harris, who finished with 56 yards on 13 carries, scored from 5-yards out with 5:14 left in the first half for the team’s third score of the game, but the two teams traded possessions to open the second half.
With 6:15 left in the third quarter, Morehead went back to punt and the Bulldogs got a piece of the effort and Baldwin scooped up the loose ball and took it in for a score.
“You have to do everything right in these games because these are the top teams in the conference,” added Smart.
Ironically, moments later on the Panthers’ next possession Winfield was off to the races with a 53-yard scoring run.
Friday night’s game with Northern kicks off at 7:30 p.m. in Eden.