On Friday night as a rain-soaked homecoming crowd gathered, the Northwest Jaguars (4-1) traveled from Gaithersburg to face the Panthers (5-0) in a top-five county, ranked-battle.  On this rainy night, both teams had issues handling the ball.

Prior to Friday night, the Panthers’ defense had kept their opponents from scoring on their new field, while the offense piled up the points for a combined three- game total of 90 points scored to 0 allowed at Panther Stadium.  The Panthers hoped to continue their dominance on this night against the Jaguars.

In the first quarter, the Panthers’ punt team struggled and, with 11:50 left in the quarter, punter Sam Stewart mishandled the snap and tried to run for the first down but was tackled short of the marker.

The Jaguars capitalized on the play to be the first visiting team to score in Paint Branch’s new stadium and take a 7-0 lead.

Five minutes after Northwest scored, the Panthers attempted another punt, but this time the punt was blocked due to another mishandled long-snap. However, the Panthers weren’t the only team struggling to hold on to the ball as, only 35 seconds after blocking the punt, Northwest quarterback Joshua Gills dropped a snap that the Panthers recovered.

The Panthers took advantage of the turnover and scored on a 29-yard touchdown pass from senior Gaston Cooper to junior Ryan Stango. The first quarter ended 7-7.

In the second quarter, the Panthers played well on both sides of the ball.  The defense didn’t allow Northwest to score, and Cooper threw two touchdown passes to senior receiver Javonn Curry to close the half and put the Panthers up by 14 points, 21-7.

The Panthers’ defensive stand didn’t last for long, though, as Northwest scored on their first offensive play of the half to cut their deficit to 7.  After turning the ball over, the Panthers’ defense  rose up again and forced a punt to give their offense an opportunity to score.  Cooper connected with Curry again, this time for a 28-yard touchdown to put the Panthers back up by 14 at 28 – 14.

After getting their lead back to 14 points, the Panthers gave up 14 unanswered points, including an interception they returned for a touchdown, which allowed Northwest to push the game into overtime.

In overtime, both teams had opportunity to score from the ten-yard line. The Panthers took posession first in OT, but could not muster any offense and were unable to score on their drive.

The Jaguars got the ball needing only a field goal to win. The Panthers’ defense shut down the Jaguars and forced a 32-yard field goal attempt by Northwest kicker Diego Melendez.  As the  Homecoming crowd held their breath and hoped for a second overtime period, Melendez drilled  the kick through the uprights to win the game 31-28 and hand the Panthers their first loss of the season.

“I think this loss is a humbling experience. It just shows us how much more we have to learn and improve to reach our ultimate goal of winning states. Hopefully, everyone takes this opportunity to get better,” commented senior captain Chris Young after the game.