Bulldogs turn back Panthers 23-6 in district opener

Trailing 10-0, the Concordia Panthers opened the second half with a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to pull within four points of the Marysville Bulldogs at 10-6.
Marysville responded by scoring two touchdowns in less than four minutes to open up a 23-6 advantage.
Shut out over the final quarter-plus, the Panthers suffered a 17-point loss to the Bulldogs in the Class 3A District 5 opener for both teams Friday night at Harold M. Clark Stadium.
Concordia, playing at home for the first time this season, falls to 0-4 overall and in North Central Kansas League play.
The Panthers are back on the road to take on Hiawatha in a district matchup Friday night.
Hiawatha, 1-3 overall, lost its district opener 75-13 to Clay Center.
“Eliminate mistakes. That is all it comes down to, and play at our ability level,” Concordia coach Jordan Echer said of what the Panthers need to do to come out of the game against Hiawatha with a win. “That will be the challenge again this week, to come out and play at our level and hopefully come out of it at 1-1.”
Marysville, 1-3, got the ball at its own 28-yard line to start the game and put together a 13-play drive.
Facing a fourth down and 15 from the Concordia 36-yard line, the Bulldogs got a 53-yard field goal by Stephen Lowrey to take a 3-0 lead with 4:28 to play in the first quarter.
“That was rough. They came out to punt, and we didn’t want them to run a fake punt with where they were at, so we called a timeout to make sure everybody was aware of the chance of a fake punt. Either way, it was an impressive kick. Hats off to that kid,” Echer said.
Concordia picked up three first downs on its first offensive possession of the game.
Backed up by a holding call that wiped out a 16-yard run by Dustin Sterrett, the Panthers had a first down and 17.
Quarterback Braeden Primeaux, who was hobbled by an injury he suffered on the second play of the game, fumbled and the ball was recovered by Marysville at the Panther 37-yard line.
Marysville quarterback Will Otott scored six plays later on a 22-yard run and the extra point make it a 10-0 game.
Concordia got the ball on its own 20-yard line following the kickoff.
The Panthers ran 14 plays and took over nine minutes off the clock.
A 14-yard run by Drew Sterrett gave Concordia a first down on the Marysville 11-yard line.
The Panthers were backed up by a holding call, and opted to attempt a field goal.
The 31-yard field goal attempt by Parker Jackson was no good, and it was still a 10-0 game.
“We had the ball twice in the first half; one was a nine minute drive and one was five minutes. We turned the ball over on one of them, the other one had penalties that put us in second and 20, and that is hard to overcome,” Echer said.
Concordia got the ball to open the second half on its own 20-yard line.
Primeaux was able to keep the drive alive by connecting with Payton Breese on a 9-yard pass on third down and five.
Sticking to the ground game, the Panthers moved into Marysville territory.
Concordia had a third down and six, following a false start penalty, when Mason Eickmann found a hole and scampered 26-yards for a touchdown.
Eickmann had five carries for 51 yards on the drive and finished the game with a career-best 102 yards on 12 carries.
The extra point attempt was no good, and Concordia was down 10-6.
Converting twice on third down and once on fourth, the Bulldogs went 64 yards in 13 running plays.
Blake Spicer had a 25-yard run during the drive.
Otott finished it off with a 1-yard touchdown run with 8:37 remaining in the game.
Eickmann blocked the extra point, and Marysville led 16-6.
Trailing by two scores, the Panthers attempted to strike quickly, but a deep pass from Primeaux was intercepted.
Marysville took over on the Concordia 41-yard line.
Six plays later, Otott was able to weave his way through traffic and score on a 17-yard run.
“Otott, there were times that he just made really good plays,” Echer said.
Concordia would fumble the ball away on its next possession and Marysville was able to run out the clock.
Concordia finished the game with 197 yards of total offense, including 184 rushing.
Drew Sterrett carried the ball five times for 30 yards and Dustin Sterrett had 27 yards on five carries.
Primeaux and Breese each completed one of two passes.
Defensively, the Panthers were led by junior linebacker Dane Cleveland with 17 tackles.
Freshman Drake Blochlinger recorded nine tackles for the Panthers.