NCAFA
Minor Football
Cumberland tykes beat Kanata Knights in seesaw battle
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
The
Cumberland Panthers and the Kanata Knights tyke teams
put on a tremendous offensive display at Millennium Park
on Sunday, exchanging touchdowns throughout most of the
game.
By
the end of the first half, the Panthers had a precarious
25-24 lead for no other reason than the fact that they
managed to score with hardly any time left on the clock
and the Knights didn't have a chance to reciprocate before
the halftime whistle blew.
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Cumberland
Panthers quarterback Mukendy eludes a tackler to
score one of his game high six touchdowns against
the Kanata Knights at Millennium Park on Saturday,
Sept. 9. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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The
Panthers also managed to successfully convert the only
extra point of the first half thanks to the kicking prowess
of quarterback Shiloh Mukendy who scored all four of his
team's touchdowns in the opening two quarters, including
a 56-yard effort in the dying seconds of the half to give
his team the lead at the break.
The
Panthers extended their advan-tage with another TD by
Mukendy at the start of the second half The Knights immediately
answered back with their fifth touchdown of the game to
maintain a one-point deficit in spite of their inability
to convert their uncontested extra point attempts.
The
two teams exchanged TDs on the next two possessions, with
Mukendy kicking his second extra point of the game to
extend the Panthers' lead to 38-30.
The
touchdown parade continued in the fourth quarter with
Mukendy adding two more majors to his final total of six
on the day. But in the end the final result came down
to kicking as the Knights had a chance to tie the game
with a contested convert kick that counts for two points
at the tyke level, but the ball never left the ground
as the Panthers' defense smothered the attempt.
The
win improves the tyke team's early season record to 2-0
after they opened their schedule with a 36-6 win over
the North Gloucester Giants on Aug 27. The Panthers' next
two games are against the winless Nepean Eagles on Sept.
16, followed by a rematch against the Knights in Kanata
on Sept. 23.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)
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