Panther Creek students swarmed the field and celebrated with players after the Catamounts knocked off Green Hope 22-7 for their first conference win in the young school’s history.

“We did it daddy!” yelled Panther Creek head coach Wayne Bragg’s young daughter as she ran into her father’s arms.

“It’s big,” said Bragg, holding his daughter. “Before you win two, you've got to win one.”

The Catamounts used trick plays, clutch defense and key special teams play to capture the historic win.

On the first play from scrimmage, Panther Creek receiver Graham Love took a reverse hand-off then pulled up for a pass, firing a 72-yard scoring strike to junior Stephen Womble. Later in the first quarter, junior running back Kel Jackson capped off a drive with a 6-yard touchdown run, giving the Catamounts a 15-0 lead.

Green Hope had their chances offensively, but couldn’t capitalize.

Panther Creek senior Kevin Collins blocked two short field goal attempts, one in each half, that were momentum swingers.

“We were able to move the ball but we’ve got to finish drives,” said Green Hope head coach Steve Katz. “We’re very young, and that’s when it shows out there.”

Green Hope racked up 297 yards but only managed one touchdown, a 63-yard pass from sophomore Kameron Bryant to senior Matt Burke. Burke finished with 131 yards on three catches.

Prior to the game, the Catamounts made a number of personnel changes, including a switch from quarterback to defense for senior Gray Mazzone, an all-conference performer in 2007.

“We changed everything really. We needed some more help on defense,” Bragg said. “It was more of a thing just to get some Ws. We switched everything up.”

Mazzone contributed as a slot receiver, linebacker, on special teams and in the secondary.

“Being the QB, it’s really easy to adapt to anything else because it goes from knowing the whole offense to just knowing your job and your assignment. So it’s a lot easier to adapt,” said Mazzone.

Sophomore CJ Liley made his first start at quarterback in Mazzone’s place. Liley completed 7-of-12 passes, including a clutch 14-yard touchdown pass to Love with less than two minutes left in the game.

“He did awesome ... I told him not to do too much, don’t try to be a hero tonight,” Mazzone said. “Just go in there and be smart and do what you need to do. He did everything like that and exceeded my expectations.”

While the win was satisfying, Panther Creek already had their sights set on this week’s game against Lee County.

“Hopefully we can learn from this experience,” Liley said. “Hopefully we can get a sense of how to win so we can carry that on to Lee County.”