Photos Courtesy of Carter Pendlum
The scorching hot Loveland Tigers hosted the Little Miami Panthers on Friday night. High stakes were present on both sides. Little Miami was trying to clinch a playoff berth, while the Tigers were looking to extend their win streak to 4 and get back to .500.
The Tiger defense had given up just 35 points in their last three games and they continued that dominance into this game as well. But it was actually the Tigers’ offense that started hot early. A pair of Colton Endicott (11) runs set up a 24 yard touchdown as Jake Svitkovich (12) found Brayden McCaleb (11) in the right corner of the end zone, and the Tigers took an early 6-0 lead.
A couple drives went by with no points scored, but Little Miami finally got on the board, as Brayden Bischoff ran for a 48 yard touchdown to put the Panthers on top 7-6, and it seemed like the energy had been sucked out of the Tigers. But Loveland would respond in dominant fashion. With the help of a couple big runs from Endicott and a big pass from Svitkovich to Will Bradley (12) on 3rd and long, Endicott punched it in from 8 yards out, and the Tigers took the lead right back, 13-7.
The Panthers would try to keep their offense going through Bischoff, as quarterback Grant Maupin found Bischoff for 38 yards on the first play of the Panther’s drive. However, a huge penalty and a key sack by Drew Holman (11) on 4th down gave the ball back to the Tigers to end the half. The Tigers would give the ball right back to Panthers just before the half, and a sack by Joseph Filia (12) ended the first half.
The Tiger defense continued to cause havoc early in the 3rd quarter as a Julius Vorbroker (11) forced fumble gave the Tigers the ball right back. Right off the bat, the Tigers offense created an explosive play as Svitkovich found Julius Vorbroker (11) for a 49 yard gain and moved the ball inside the Panthers red zone. Brady Stidham (9) converted a 35 yard field goal and the Tigers lead increased to nine. The Tigers kept their momentum rolling after a surprise onside kick by Stidham set them up in Panther territory, and Endicott found the end zone for the second time, putting the Tigers up 22-7.
Dylan Hacker (10) helped the Tigers momentum peak as he picked off Maupin, setting up the Tigers. Just three plays later, Svitkovich connected with Bradley for a 35 yard touchdown to extend the Tigers lead to 22. The Tigers D would force another turnover, as Kolby King (11) picked off Maupin, and the Tigers held on to defeat the Panthers 29-7.
The Tigers stuck with the ground and pound offense against the Panthers, as Colton Endicott ran for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns. That is the most rushing yards in a game for the Tigers since the state championship season 9 years ago, when Nate Slagel ran for 228 yards against Butler.
The Tigers defense kept its dominance going, led by Connor Bond (12) and Holman. Bond recorded 6 solo tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a sack, while Holman put up 3 solo tackles, 2 tackles for loss and a sack.