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JERSEY - Jersey won a game Friday night that could have lasting impact on the remainder of the season, slipping by Metamora Township 27-24 in front of an excited home crowd.
Panthers’ quarterback Drew Sauerwein connected with star receiver Blake Wittman on a 43-yard touchdown pass to clinch the game with 3:41 left. Wittman recorded some strong stats in the game with 11 catches for 192 yards and four touchdowns. Metamora was ranked seventh in the state, head coach Rodney Adkins said, which made it even more of a monumental early season victory.
Panthers’ quarterback Drew Sauerwein had an incredible game, completing 19 of 25 passes for 276 yards and four touchdowns. Kurt Hall carried the ball 15 times for 65 yards and Jack Brandt rushed 11 times for 51 yards. Brett Tuttle had four catches for 30 yards, Matthew Jackson had three catches for 38 yards and Will Medford had a catch for 16 yards.
Tuttle had 7.5 tackles, while Jacob Brady had 7 tackles and Christopher Jackson, Zeke Waltz, each added 6.5 tackles. Wittman had 6.0 tackles, and Jon Woelfel had 5.5 tackles. Sauerwein on defense added 4.5 tackles. Brian McDonald had 3 tackles for the Panthers.
“Our kids really don’t care who you are or what you are ranked, they come and play football,” Adkins said. “The kids had an unbelievable week in practice and it showed in our effort out there. Metamora is an incredible ball club. The kids know this have to come back and get to work. The road just gets tougher. We play the No. 5 team in the state this week and the No. 4 team after that. Talk about facing murderous row, but we are off to a great start.”
