Pinewood Prep faced Wilson Hall at home Sept. 21 and came up short.
After falling behind early, the Panthers rallied to gain the lead, but eventually fell 25-14.
“It was a tough loss,” Pinewood coach Michael Wright said. “We are working hard to continue to get better and we believe in the boys and commend them for their hard work, grit and determination. We have a number of games left and look forward to improving and we are excited to play.”
Pinewood struggled in the opening quarter, giving up two touchdowns. The Panther defense did prevent a PAT and a two-point conversion.
Pinewood came back strong in the second quarter. Wilson Hall had a 30-yard run called back for holding, which set up second-and-20 from the 10-yard line. Pinewood’s defense held Wilson Hall forcing them to punt the ball from the 5 to give the Panthers excellent field position at the 35.
Quarterback Ethan Hirsch threw a 35-yard pass to Mikey McVeigh on fourth down to set up a first down at the Wilson Hall 6. Hirsch ended the drive with a touchdown courtesy of a key block by Ben Brown.
The Pinewood defense worked its magic again with some key tackles in the backfield by Ben Diffley and Cameron Carroll on fourth down, setting up the Pinewood offense at the Wilson Hall 40 on the Panthers’ ensuing possession.
Hirsch’s 38-yard touchdown pass to Mikey McVeigh ended that drive. Cameron Carroll powered in for the 2-point conversion to end the half with the Panthers ahead of Wilson Hall 14-12.
But Wilson Hall shutout the Panthers in the second half and found ways to score.
McVeigh finished with more than 100 receiving yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, Mitchell Bishop had six solo tackles and Max Grothaus had three. Gabe Gross and Ben DeLillo each had a fumble recovery.
This Friday, Pinewood will travel to Cardinal Newman in Columbia.
