Fulton County Ohio Media

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Two high-powered offenses, with polar-opposite offensive philosophies, went at each other last Friday on a very hot and humid evening at Panther Stadium and, at the end of the night, the punishing ground attack of the Delta Panthers, out-lasted the high-flying aerial assault of the Fairview Apaches, to come away with a 35-28 non-league football victory.  Senior Landon Lintermoot was the workhorse for the Panthers, carrying the ball 37 times for 236 yards and four touchdowns.  Vincent Martinez ran for 158 yards on just nine carries including a big 63-yard gain to put the Panthers in position to score late in the game after the Apaches had pulled within seven points.  Marcus Nagel had 58 yards on the ground and started the Delta scoring with a 52-yard run in the first quarter.

Fairview answered the first Delta score with a 49-yard touchdown pass from William Zeedyk to Logan Olinger to tie the game at 7-7.  At that point, the Panther running game and their defense took over the contest.  Lintermoot scored on runs of 4 and 1 yards to put Delta up 21-7 and the defense kept Fairview out of the end zone despite Zeedyk’s 28 pass attempts by the end of the half.

The Panthers took the second half kickoff and put together a long clock-eating drive ending with Lintermoot’s third touchdown of the game and a 28-7 lead.  Back came the Apaches with a long drive of their own, but again, the Delta defense stepped up as Alex York intercepted a pass in the end zone with 1:44 left on the clock in the third quarter.  However, just as it looked like a relatively easy win was close at hand, the Panther offense returned the favor and fumbled away the ball, giving Fairview a first and goal.

The Apaches scored through the air on their first play from scrimmage to pull within 28-14, turning the momentum 180 degrees in their favor.  Fairview executed a successful onsides kick and Zeedyk threw his third touchdown pass and suddenly the comfortable Delta advantage was down to seven points at 28-21.  The visitors then pulled off the unimaginable and recovered another onside kick.  This time, the Panthers forced a three and out and got the ball back deep in their own territory.

After Delta quarterback Emric Friess threw an incompletion on his only pass attempt of the game, Martinez bolted 63 yards to set up a two-yard plunge by Lintermoot and Brody Roth booted his fifth PAT of the contest and Delta was ahead by 14 points with under two minutes to play.  But Fairview was not done.  They quickly drove down the field and Zeedyk tossed his 66^th pass into the end zone for his 38^th completion, his fourth touchdown and the last of his 432 passing yards of the game with 20 seconds still remaining.  A third onsides kick was attempted and the Panthers fell on the ball to escape with the victory.

Delta head coach Mike Vicars picked up his second victory in as many games since taking the reins for first time in five years and for the third time with the Panthers.  “I thought overall our defense played really good.  That’s a high-flying offense that puts a lot of points on the board.  They’re going to win a lot of games,” he said.  Coach Vicars also commented on the importance of winning non-conference games, especially when that opponent wins games down the road and adds valuable points to your computer playoff total.

Next week Vicars and his young team (just seven seniors) welcome in the Lake Flyers of the Northern Buckeye Conference, giving Delta another chance to rack up computer points with a non-conference victory.  The Bryan Golden Bears come in next for the first NWOAL contest.

Fairview Apaches:  7-0-7-14 = 28

Delta Panthers:  7-14-7-7 = 35

Click on the link above to access photos from the game. Photos are in the jpeg format to allow for editing and can be downloaded for NO CHARGE courtesy of the fultoncountymedia.com website.