INDIANAPOLIS
Park Tudor’s first play from scrimmage set the tone for D.J. Gordon and his Panthers.
Following a nice kickoff return, the senior quarterback ran for 43 yards for a TD with less than 30 seconds gone.
Gordon, who has committed to Harvard, ran for four touchdowns and passed for three more Friday night as the Panthers rolled past visiting Greenwood Christian, 65-6, in the season opener.
“What a phenomenal athlete and leader,” GCA coach Andre Dobson said. “Anyone who is recruited by the entire Ivy League has to be top quality person.”
Following a fumble by Cougars quarterback Trey Dobson, Gordon threw a 14-yard TD pass to Carson Ritz on the team’s second play from scrimmage with 9:42 remaining in the first quarter.
A 2-yard TD run by Wiliam Harris gave the Panthers a 21-0 lead.
Trey Dobson’s 72-yard scoring pass to Evan McIntire on third down and 29 cut the lead to 21-6. After Park Tudor was called offsides, the Cougars’ two-point conversion attempt failed.
Gordon’s 63-yard pass to Hayden Souza pushed the Panthers’ lead to 28-6 with still 2:16 left in the first quarter.
Gordon TD runs of 18 and 12 yards, and Dobson being tackled in the end zone for a safety, accounted for the second-quarter scores.
The second half was played with a running clock since the Panthers were ahead by more than 35 points.
Gordon’s 25-yard TD pass to Landon Guerra midway through the third quarter gave the Panthers a 51-6 lead.
WIth 10:36 left, Gordon ran for a 35-yard TD and then threw the two-point conversion to make it 59-6 with 8:39 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The final Panthers TD was on a 13-yard TD pass by backup QB Nolan Whitehead.
“This is a group that will continue to fight from the state to the end, and I’m very proud of them for that,” coach Dobson said. “That’s the mentality I’m trying to build within our program.”
The Cougars coach continued to have his teams go for it on fourth down, even deep in his own territory. Dobson said that is part of his philosophy.
“We talk about life situations all the time,” he said. “We are going to find ourselves down and we want to fight from the beginning to the end, never give up. We can teach our boys that through this awesome game of football. We feel blessed to be able to do that. There’s a lot of individual competitors out here, and they don’t want to lose. When this type of game happens, they want to overcome it.”
Dobson said it’s fortunate that the team appeared to have no injuries. The Cougars play at Covenant Christian next week.
