ROXANA – The last couple of contests between Pana and Roxana have been pretty close, two points separating the teams in their encounter in Pana last season.
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Friday night's South Central Conference game between the two teams didn't go to previous form as the Panthers' Rhett Zahradke threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as Pana handed the Shells a 27-6 defeat at Charlie Raich Field.
Zahradke's domination was pretty complete, but the rest of the Panthers also made contributions, and Shell coach Pat Keith knew it.
“We started off defensive in the first half,” Keith said. “The big thing was that we couldn't get anything going. If you had told me we would have allowed 20 points going into the fourth quarter, the game would have been in our favor.
“We've got to play better. We've got to execute a bit better. It's Week 2, so we'll go back to the drawing board and get better.”
Raich Field generally isn't an easy place to play for opposing teams, something Panther coach Al Stupek knew going in. “It felt good,” Stupek said. “We knew coming in here that Roxana was one of the top teams in the conference and they're capable of running off seven in a row here. Pat Keith does a remarkable job with them and I wish them the best of luck.”
The senior Panther players hadn't defeated the Shells since coming up to the high school program. “Our seniors hadn't beat Roxana since they were in (junior football league),” Stupek said. “It's a pretty sweet win, plus it gets us to 2-0, which is a pretty nice place to be.”
It didn't take all that long for the Panthers to get in front; just 2:49 into the game, Zahradke dropped back to pass and found Adam Miller open. Miller caught the pass, beat a pair of tacklers and went off to the races for a 65-yard touchdown catch-and-run, making it 7-0 following Jake McLeod's conversion. The Panthers also had a couple of drives in the second term come close, but the Shell defense stiffened up at key times, forcing McLeod to try a pair of field-goal attempts. Both went wide to keep the game at 7-0.
Pana finally broke through again with 4:27 left in the second, when Zahradke called his own number and went off on a 19-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0. A bit more than two-and-a-half minutes later, Pana was knocking on the door again when Zahradke sprinted left and found Jake Franklin in the end zone for a score to make it 20-0 at the half when the conversion try missed.
Roxana finally got on the board with nine minutes left in the final term when, after a pair of drives earlier in the quarter fell short, Blake Vandiver got the call from 3 yards out and pounded the ball past the goal line to cut the lead to 20-6. A Chance Foss pass for a two-point conversion was broken up, and with 4:39 left, Zahradke called his number again and scored from 13 yards out for the final score of the game.
The Shells' three-game season-opening home stand comes to a finish when Hillsboro comes calling to Raich Field for a 7 p.m. Friday kickoff. Roxana hits the road for the first time when they go to Vandalia for a 7 p.m. kickoff Sept. 18.
Watch the Pana @ Roxana football game originally aired live on 9/4/2015.
Roxana Coach Pat Keith post game interview
Pana Coach Al Stupek post game interview
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