Football seniors, Eugine McClerkin (12), Riley Pickett (12), Austin Willis (12), Victor Jones (12), Josiah Rittenhouse (12), Matthew Edmonson (12), and Landon Lovingood (12) had one last opportunity to win against the biggest rivalry of the season. The Loudon Redskins had previously won the last six years (2018-2024). This was the year for the Panthers to return the glory back home to Lenoir City. The days leading up the game were full of anticipation and confidence by both the players and fans. Gathered throughout the field and stadium panther pride was rising and rowdy. Once the big hand on the clock struck 7:00pm the ball was kicked off at Loudon. Chalk, confetti, and air horns were blasted into the sky. Immediately as Riley Pickett (12) kicked the ball, a Loudon player ran through the return team and scored a touchdown.
“Really, I think that the whole team wasn’t prepared enough. I don’t think half of them realized, you know, the caliber of the game, and Loudon was willing to do anything to get that ball back to the endzone and we just weren’t awake and they returned it completely back. It really swept us off our feet and I feel like we lost quite a bit of momentum from it,” Pickett said.
The touchdown instantly shifted the team’s momentum and ability to persevere. When the first quarter ran out of time, the score was 3-14. Pickett kicked a 25 yard field goal, however it was not enough to keep up with Loudon. The team felt a major setback in their mentality and coping with the hardship.
“I’d say just as they kept scoring and we kept giving stuff up, the energy got more negative but came back at halftime with a better mindset but you know nothing really changed. They kept scoring so it kept getting worse. Really wasn’t anything positive,” Rittenhouse said.
One of the setbacks the Panthers faced before the game was the starting running back Victor Jones being out with an injury. Not only did the Panthers have to rotate Jones out but also had to work through a new lineup. Jones is a strong leader for the team and is held accountable as one of the captains. Although Jones was on the sidelines, he remained an influence to his teammates.
“I tried to keep everyone’s energy up, even right when we let the kickoff get scored. That’s when it kind of went downhill but I tried to keep the team’s energy up, keep them in the game because I knew if they weren’t in the game, then we wouldn’t really have a chance. It was everything from energy to letting coach Stanley know everything I was seeing,” Jones said.
However, the game was not over quite yet. During the fourth quarter the Panthers scored their first touchdown of the game. Senior captain, Austin Willis protected the running back in hopes to score a touchdown.
“…we ran our sweep play and everybody got the blocks. I was the lead blocker for our person running the ball so he kind of hid behind me and made it to the end zone. It was a bittersweet moment because we scored and that was great and all but when we look at the scoreboard you see it’s not going your way. It brings everyone down a little,” Willis said.
The ninety-ninth anniversary of the rival game was a disappointing loss for the Panthers with many reasons for the outcome. The football seniors completed their last Battle of the Bridge unsuccessfully but not pointless. The senior captains, Willis, Jones, and McClerin will use this game as an opportunity to improve the team’s mindset and momentum for future games.
