PANHANDLE – If there was an early season statement to be made, the Panhandle Panthers made it.
Panhandle’s offense was simply unstoppable scoring early and often pulling away from Stratford in the second quarter and never looking back on the way to a one-sided 61-19 Week 2 victory at an unseasonably cool Panthers Stadium on Friday night.
“This is what we wanted to see from the guys,” Panhandle head coach Dane Ashley said. “What I love the most is seeing how unique our offense is. The offensive line played unbelievable and dominated the line of scrimmage. We also have a lot of weapons. We have a great quarterback, great receivers and great running backs. We can spread the ball out and do a lot of different things and that showed against Stratford.”
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While the Elks (1-1) did hang around early into the second quarter, the Panhandle (2-0) offense never flinched scoring on six of its seven possessions in the opening two quarters that allowed the Panthers to build a 40-13 halftime advantage.
The drives were in built on rhythm with a racing tempo. Every scoring drive for Panhandle in the first half were under two minutes and didn’t go past seven plays. The Panhandle offensive line took complete control and quarterback Broxton Robinson was able to prove why he was the best player on the field. Robinson, a Division I Army West Point commit, scored the game’s first touchdown on a four-yard keeper. He then broke loose for scoring scampers of 24 and 20 yards and set up an option pitch that allowed Lucas Purcell to break free down the sideline for a 50-yard touchdown.
“Broxton is the heart and soul of this football team and he has been for the past two years,” Ashley said. “I always tell the coaches to let me know when he is getting 30 carries because he needs to touch it 30 times. He needs to or I’m not doing my job. But he can also create and pass the ball. He just does so much for us and he was on his game against Stratford.”
Coming out of halftime, Robinson and the offense proved they could slow things down using a 14-play, 66-yard march that was capped off by a Robinson touchdown toss to Caden Armes that pushed the lead 47-13 and completely out of reach.
The Panhandle offense ended the contest running 71 plays for an impressive 605 yards.
Robinson ended his night compiling 364 yards of offense and five total touchdowns. With his feet, the senior carried the ball 22 times for 181 yards with four TDs, all coming in the first half. With his arm, Robinson was efficient going 13-of-15 for 181 yards with another score.
Complimenting Robinson was receiver Caden Armes. Armes made play after play snagging six catches for 109 yards with a touchdown. Purcell carried the ball nine times for 108 yards.
What gets lost in the offensive onslaught is how the Panhandle defense performed. After giving up 13 early points to Stratford, Panhandle completely took the Elks out of the game. In total, Stratford ran only 39 plays and were limited to 227 total yards with 80 coming on the ground.