Mountain Grove Panthers cruise past Cabool

The Mountain Grove Panthers’ football team moved to 3-0 in the South Central Association (SCA) Conference last Friday night when they scored 53 points in the first half and cruised past Cabool on the road, 68-6.
Mountain Grove has now outscored SCA teams by a margin of 155-22 in their wins over Ava, Willow Springs and Cabool.
It didn’t take long for the Panthers to get on the board as a bad snap on a punt attempt was recovered by Briar Parsons on the Bulldogs’ 3.
Eli Golden would score on a five-yard touchdown run and his extra-point kick gave the Panthers a 7-0 early lead.
Brody Bevan had a near punt block for the Panthers on the Bulldogs’ next possession.
With the ball on Cabool’s 42, Mountain Grove quarterback Dalton Shannon connected with Golden for a 42-yard touchdown pass. Golden’s kick failed, keeping the score at 13-0.
With 5:25 left in the first quarter, Parsons intercepted a Cabool pass and gave Mountain Grove’s offense the ball deep into Bulldogs’ territory.
Shannon would then pitch the ball to Bevan for a 13-yard touchdown run. Braydon Curtiss  scored a two-point conversion to push the lead to 21-0.
Another bad snap on Cabool’s next possession led to the Panthers’ offense getting the ball inside the 20.
Shannon then quickly scored on an 18-yard touchdown run. Golden’s extra-point kick pushed the lead to 28-0.
Golden set up the next scoring drive after returning a Cabool punt 20 yards to inside the Bulldogs’ 40.
Shannon scored on a 38-yard touchdown run with 2:14 remaining in the first quarter. The extra-point kick failed for a 34-0 edge.
About a minute later, Bevan intercepted a Cabool pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. Golden’s extra-point kick pushed the lead to 41-0.
With the JV offense entering the game early in the second quarter, that didn’t stop the Panthers from scoring more points.
TJ Brown had a 34-yard touchdown run at the start of the second quarter. Golden’s kick was no good and Mountain Grove led Cabool, 47-0.
A few minutes later, Mountain Grove’s defense stuffed Cabool on a 4th-and-4 to force a turnover on downs.
Starting with the ball near midfield, the Panthers pushed the ball into the red zone. Brannon Short capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. Golden’s extra-point kick gave the Panthers a 54-0 edge.
At the start of the third quarter, Brown scored on a 48-yard touchdown run. Golden’s extra-point kick gave his team a 6-10 lead.
The Bulldogs finally got on the board about a minute later when they scored on a 68-yard touchdown run. A failed kick kept the score at 61-6.
The final score for the Panthers came when Zane Blackwell scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Golden’s kick helped to make the final score, 68-6.
Mountain Grove will go on the road again Oct. 2 and take on a 4-1 Liberty (Mountain View) squad that is coming off a tight 34-27 win over Willow Springs. Their lone loss was one week earlier to Ava, 17-14.