More than 1,000 yards of offense resulted in more than 100 points Friday as high-powered Lincoln High visited Sunset Chev Stadium to mix it up with the unbeaten Panthers of Bonney Lake High in a nonleague outing.
The 4-0 Bonney Lake football crew is accustomed to nail biters this season and remained calm under fire, prevailing 55-47.
As the last few minutes ticked off the clock, BLHS senior ball carrier Joey Surber, who was filling in for an injured E.J. Harris, culminated one last Panther scoring surge by following a wall of escorts to find paydirt from four yards out.
Bonney Lake was able to overcome the individual performance of Lincoln running back Emmanuel Thompkins, who scored four touchdowns and ran for more than 200 yards.
“The guys on my defense have been there before though and when it really counted in the late going of the game and they had to make a defensive stand, they accomplished that,” Panther coach Chad Barrett said.
As BLHS has proven time and time again though, sometimes the best defense is a good offense, because as Lincoln discovered, in the waning moments of this thriller after falling behind 20-19 at halftime, it is difficult to put points on the board when you do not posses the pigskin.
Once Bonney Lake’s stalwart offensive linemen, including Jake Nash, Neko Reynon and Taylor Mack, figured out how to hold Lincoln at bay, Panther quarterback Chris Brown was able to carve up the Abes’ secondary.
“Those big boys up front did a great job, giving me time to throw,” Brown said, after a game in which he completed 25 of 40 aerials for 415 yards and five touchdowns.
“We have to be able to count on every member of this group to play their best possible offensive and defensive football for 48 minutes every night,” Barrett said, looking ahead to a series of South Puget Sound League 3A games.
The Panthers will get an extra day to scheme for their critical first SPSL 3A challenge of the season, when they will come face-to-face with a 3-1 Auburn Mountainview contingent at 7 p.m. Saturday at Auburn Memorial Stadium. The Lions outplayed Yelm 29-12 last week.
