This one wasn’t even close.

Friday night’s matchup saw the Paint Branch Panthers take on their bitter rival from Sandy Spring, the Sherwood Warriors. It was the annual Homecoming game for PB and the stakes were high. A win would guarantee a playoff game in Panther Stadium, and a loss would mean the chance of hosting a game would be almost slim to none. However, on this night, Coach Nee’s guys showed up and dominated from start to finish.

In the first quarter, junior running back Sam Doku found the end zone on the ground to give Paint Branch an early 7-0 lead. Before the half ended, the Panthers added a second score, this time by senior back Justin Page, giving the Panthers a 13-0 lead going into the locker room.

Paint Branch had a two-score lead, but it was nowhere near comfortable. Last year, the Panthers blocked a field goal as time ran out to secure the win. The year before that, Sherwood secured the last play victory as they picked off a final heave to the end zone from PB. However, this year there would be no dramatic ending, as a strong 3rd quarter put the game away for PB. A 15-yard touchdown run by senior quarterback Norman Douglas, Jr. extended the lead to 20-0. Page added a second rushing touchdown on the next drive after Douglas’ score to up the lead to 27-0.

The Panthers padded the lead again thanks to a 22-yard touchdown pass to speedy senior Max Davis. A successful 2-point conversion gave the Panthers a 35-0 lead, which anyone could tell felt pretty comfortable.

A late touchdown by the Warriors put them on the board and ruined the shutout for the Panther “D,” but if anything was ever too little too late, this was it. When it was all said and done, the Panthers clinched their 7th win of the season in a 35-7 thrashing. The win also clinched the Division title.
The Panthers host Blake next week on Senior Night, and Sherwood, which fell to 5-3, will host Springbrook.