The Cumberland Panthers U16 bantam team lost their second round robin playoff game to the Gloucester South Raiders Wednesday night, but the one-point loss likely means the two teams will see each other again in the NCAFA A-Cup final on Nov. 2. That's because the Panthers beat the Ottawa South Mustangs by 20 points in their first round robin game last Friday.
For the Mustangs to make the final and knock the Panthers out, will take a 20-point win over the Raiders when the two teams face each other this Sunday. Given the quality of the Raiders defence, that's highly unlikely.
The Raiders' defence held the Panthers offence to just 47 yards for the better part of the second half Wednesday night. A 15-yard run by Vincent Anderson during the final series of the game would add to that total, but by then it was too little too late as the Raiders managed to hold on for an 8-7 win.
The difference on the scoreboard was a rouge off a punt into the Panthers' end zone in the first quarter. The difference in the game was a blocked punt early in the fourth quarter that set up the Raiders' lone touchdown.
The Panthers' touchdown came in the second quarter. After forcing the Raiders to turn the ball over on their 31 yard line, the Panthers put together a 10 play, 79 yard scoring drive, culminating in a one yard touchdown plunge by Lucas McGuire.
The Raiders had a wonderful opportunity to score in the dying seconds of the first half when an unecessary roughness penalty against the Panthers gave them a first down on the Panthers' two yard line, but the Cumberland defence stood their ground and kept them out of the end zone.
The second half was a total stalemate until the blocked punt early in the fourth quarter.
While only a single point separated the two teams on the scoreboard, the Raiders finished the game with a much broader advantage in the score stat sheet with 243 total yards on offence and 12 first downs compared to 191 total yards and nine first downs for the Panthers.
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