Panthers Shut out Hornets.

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The annual night of arch rivalry was once again played out on the field, this year at Island Park, Blossburg, as the Panthers (4-5) played host to the Hornets (1-8).

Wellsboro, hoping to break an eight-game losing streak, and North Penn in hopes of making the mark to put the Panthers into the 2009 District IV Class A playoffs with a win.

Wellsboro's sophomore, Thomas Johnston, also was in hopes of setting a new record for the Hornets' with total tackles in a single season. He needed 16 tackles to break the old record of Wellsboro's Kurt Benjamin and 12 to succeed the second place record of fellow teammate Aaron Moss. Johnston fell short by garnering only 10 against the Panthers, and remains third in the history of Wellsboro football with most tackles in a single season*.

The Panthers’ ready to battle on their home turf, took a 20-0 lead after only the first quarter, as Skye Stiner recorded a nine yard touchdown, Ryan Dinger with a two yard run into the end zone and Graeme Zaparzynski snagging a 42 yard touchdown pass from fellow teammate Mackey Stiner with 1:51 left on the clock.

Zaparzynski is the league's leading receiver with 628 yards on 40 attempts.

Dinger added another four yard touchdown run early in the second quarter and Ethan Wilston with a 33 yard field goal, increasing the Panthers’ lead to 29-0 over Wellsboro.

Continuing to dominate the field, Dinger ran a 31 yard touchdown into the end zone and Patrick Watkins with a six yard touchdown run to end the first half, leading 42-0 over the Hornets.

Returning in the third quarter, Watkins took a 24 yard run into the end zone with Wilston’s extra point through the uprights. In conclusion of the arch rivalry matchup, North Penn’s Trace Dickinson posted a four yard touchdown run for the Panthers with just over four minutes left in the game. North Penn secured the 55-0 shutout and improve to 5-5 overall for the season.

The Panthers totaled 466 yards on the ground and 76 yards passing to total a gain of 542 yards against the Hornets.

On offense for Wellsboro, Nick Saniga completed 13 of 24 attempts passing for 134 yards, while Chase Barnes garnered 18 yards rushing on four attempts, Thomas Johnston one attempt for 14 yards. Defensively, Johnston posted 10 tackles for the Hornets, Ryan Moss and Barnes combined for 16, while Nathan Bair garnered 26 yards on two receptions, Moss two for 25 yards and Colin Janeski 55 yards on four completions.

Wellsboro concludes with a 1-9 overall record (1-4 NTL).

For North Penn’s offense, Skye Stiner totaled 135 yards on 13 attempts rushing, Pat Watkins five attempts for 109 yards, and Delgado added 80 yards on 10. On defense, Logan Wise led the Panthers with eight tackles on the Hornets, with Nick Seeley posting seven. Nathan Stettler, Nick Harer and Karl Wickman each earned a sack.

* Records may not be accurate to date due to incomplete stats. If you know of a record not currently listed on this page, or have game statistics or film from previous years, please contact us.