CARY — Nobody's sure whether or not a win on Friday means Panther Creek will be in the NCHSAA playoffs for the first time in school history. What the Catamounts did know, however, is that a loss would rule out that possibility.

So, in a game that had no shortage of defensive stands, Panther Creek got a goal line stand at the end of each half to preserve a 7-3 win over rival Cary on Friday.

The Catamounts' Isaiah Johnson halted Deandre Henry on the last play of the first half from 1-yard out, and then finished off the game with a sack of quarterback Nick Lansing with less than 30 seconds remaining on a 4th-and-goal from the 5.

In all, Panther Creek allowed just 167 yards on 51 Cary offensive plays – a 3.3 average. Cary's defense held strong as well, allowing 190 yards on 55 plays for a 3.5 average.

The only play the Imps allowed longer than 25 yards on the night happened to be Panther Creek's only score. After a failed fake punt inside their own territory gave Panther Creek great field position, the Imps allowed Kameron Bryant to find Graham Love for a score on a 3rd-and-14 on the 27-yard line.

Panther Creek never relinquished the lead after the second quarter score. Cary scored on its final first quarter drive thanks to a 27-yard Will Gilfillan field goal.

The game got off to a perilous start for both teams, as Henry fumbled away the opening kickoff. P.C.'s Jordan Eisner recovered, and the Catamounts had the ball at the Cary 13-yard line.

However, penalties and tackles for loss put the Catamounts at the 43-yard line two downs later. Eventually Panther Creek failed to convert the drive into any points and gave the ball back to Cary on downs.

Panther Creek's offensive line gave up five sacks on the night – four coming in the first half alone. The Imps forced 11 tackles for loss, but matching them stop-for-stop was Panther Creek, which also had 11 tackles for loss with 4.5 of them coming from Johnson, a junior safety.

Henry was the workhorse for Cary, gaining 196 yards on the ground. His 60-yard run in the first quarter placed Cary within field goal range for Gilfillan a few plays later, while another run for 50 yards in the fourth quarter nearly clinched it for both teams.

As Henry broke his run away from the right sideline and towards the middle of the field with lots of green in front of him, he was caught from behind by Dylan McNamara. McNamara punched the ball out, but Cary came up with the recovery as a 10-man pile with players from both teams heaped on the 25-yard line with less than three minutes to play.

Both teams ended the regular season with matching records overall (5-6) and in conference (3-5). Should either be selected for the NCHSAA playoffs, they would be in the 4-AA bracket.