Panthers romp to spoil Mustangs opener at renovated Veterans Memorial Park

By Mike Wertman, Sports Writer Posted 15 September 2017 at 11:27 pm

Photos by Cheryl Wertman – Brian Fry runs around end for Medina/Lyndonville as DaRon Bellan blocks Newfane defender Thorne Geise. The action took place during the Mustangs loss to the Panthers this evening in the first game at renovated Veterans Memorial Park.

Building up a commanding 21-0 half-time advantage, Newfane went on to defeat Medina/Lyndonville 34-6 this evening spoiling the Mustangs christening of renovated Veterans Memorial Park.

Getting excellent results from a well executed option attack, Newfane used a series of big plays to key the first half surge as the Panthers rushed for nearly 250 yards during that stretch.

Julian Nixon opened the Newfane scoring with a 61 yard touchdown run with 5:09 to go in the first quarter.

Panthers quarterback Brandon Gross then tallied on a pair of 1 yard TD runs, the first of which he set up himself with a 64 yard run and the second by a 33 yard run by Shayne Harrington and a 29 yard pass from Gross to Reese Casinelli.

Plagued by a rash of penalties, the Mustangs failed to drive inside the Panthers 30 yard line until the final play of the second half.

Newfane increased its advantage to 27-0 on a 6 yard touchdown run by Harrington midway through the fourth quarter, a tally set up by a big 38 yard run by Gross.

Medina/Lyndonville finally got on the scoreboard when Jalin Cooper caught a 14 yard TD pass from quarterback Izaiah Rhim with 5:01 remaining. A 26 yard run by William Braswell and an 11 yard Rhim to Cooper pass completion keyed that drive.

However, the Panthers got that one right back when Nixon scored on a 61 yard run with 1:57 remaining.

The Mustangs and Panthers are now both 1-1 in the division and 2-1 overall.

Medina/Lyndonville next hosts Lackawanna at 7:30 p.m. next Friday.