By Andrea Arens
The Manteno Panthers won their season opener against the Sandwich Indians on August 30 by a score of 52-32.
Manteno took the lead with two touchdowns in the first, but the Indians answered with two touchdowns in the second. Manteno answered with two more but the Indians rallied for one more score to end the second quarter.
The Panthers ran away with the game in the third quarter, scoring two more times, including two-point conversions to boost the score at the end of the third, 44-24.
Sandwich answered in the fourth with a one-yard run for a touchdown and another two-point conversion to bring the score to 32. The Panthers rallied, though, and scored one more time, along with another two-point conversion to bring the final score to 52-32.
Standouts included Connor Harrod, who threw 4/10 for a total of 57 passing yards. Niko Akiyama ran 198 yards and scored two touchdowns. Tyler Buehler ran 94 yards and scored one touchdown, while Harrod also ran 66 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.
Tyson Clodi led in tackles, with 7 and 2 assists. Dylan McIntyre had 5 tackles and 1 assist, and Tyler Buehler also had 3 tackles.
The Panthers hit the road to compete against Plano on September 6.
