On a wet and muddy night last Friday, the Panthers traveled to Oswego East to take on their crosstown rival. The passing game of the Panthers was too much to handle for the Oswego East secondary, as senior quarterback Noah Parker exploded for nearly 240 yards to lead the Panthers to a 32-0 win and first place in the Southwest Prairie Conference.
Senior wideout Jamal Fomby had yet another big night as he went for 127 yards with two touchdowns. Junior Jack Lemke also benefited from the pass game, who had four receptions for 100 yards.
“Those two are unbelievable,” Parker said of Fomby’s and Lemke’s performances. “It was just pitch and catch and watch them run the ball.”
The Panthers defense was dominant once again, allowing only five total yards on the game. However, the Wolves helped Oswego out by losing 35 yards on a wild snap on a punt attempt in the second half.
Friday was Oswego’s third shutout on the year.
Going in to last week’s game, the Wolves had given up only six points all year, but Parker and company threw caution to wind, along with the ball.
Parker’s big night started with a 20-yard touchdown to Fomby, which put the Panthers up 9-0, after a missed point after attempt.
The Panthers added on another touchdown on a run by senior Charles Coleman. He finished with 71 yards and the touchdown.
The highlight of night, however, was a 30-yard catch and run by Fomby, which put the Panthers up 25-0 after the second successful two-point conversion on the night. The Panthers took that lead to halftime.
In the second half, Fomby added on a 20-yard touchdown to finish his scoring for the night to put the Panthers up 17 after a successful two-point attempt.
Despite Coleman’s relatively poor day, his presence opened up the door for Parker.
“Chuck was a major part of the game plan, East did a great job of bottling him up,” head coach Brian Cooney said. “With that said, any play action to Coleman drew in the linebackers, allowing receivers to have free release in their routes.” The use of play action helped send the Panthers to victory, and showed us all that Parker is, in fact, for real.
The Panthers take on Joliet Central in the homecoming game on Friday at 7 p.m. at Ken Pickerill Stadium.
