So far so good for the Washington Panthers who topped the Washington Pirates 22-0 in a Community Youth Football League 8U division matchup on Saturday at Kugler Field to win their second straight game.
Running back Jonathan Fields rushed for three touchdowns, as the Panthers upped their record to 2-0 this season.
“I thought we played pretty good,” Panthers coach Keith Mitchell said. “Last week we had off and I was a little concerned about coming off the bye week, but I thought the kids played well, especially being a 9 a.m. game.”
Playing in an early game, the Panthers (2-0) took an early lead on Pirates (0-2) as Fields broke off a 50-yard run to go ahead 6-0 at the 2:59 mark in the first.
Fields struck again midway through the second when he took a pitch to his left and squirted his way through the Panthers’ defense for a 65-yard touchdown run.
The Panthers would take a 14-0 lead after a Dawson Mitchell two-point conversion.
Fields scored his final touchdown of the day in the third when he raced 68 yards down the field to the end zone. The Panthers would go ahead 22-0 on another Mitchel two-pointer.
“I was really pleased with the play of our offensive and defensive line,” Mitchell said. “Jonathan was able to score three touchdowns today, but that was because of the good play by the offensive line.”
While Fields was scoring, the Panthers defense did a good job of swarming to the ball and not allowing the Pirates to break off long runs.
“A couple of times they got outside on us but our linebackers and (defensive backs) were able to come over and keep them from having a big gain,” Mitchell said. “That helped us out a bunch.”
The Pirates were able to move the ball on offense, but just could not complete their drives as the Panthers defense pitched its second straight shutout.
“We started moving the ball good and we were blocking,” Pirates coach Eric Munday said. “Toward the end of the first half we had a good drive but unfortunately we let the time run out on us. We have some really young kids that are starting to run the ball real well.”
Though Fields was able to break free for a couple of big runs, overall, the Pirates defense gave a sturdy effort on Saturday.
“Our defense has come a long way,” Munday said. “We tend to arm tackle, which is what allowed some of those long runs to break lose. We just have to close in, if it wasn’t for some of those long runs it’s an even game.”

Panthers    6    8    8    0    —    22
Pirates    0    0    0    0    —    0

Scoring summary
P — Jonathan Fields 50 run (two points failed), 2:59, 1st.
P — Fields 65 run (Dawson Mitchell two points), 5:29, 2nd.
P — Fields 68 run (Mitchell two points), 7:02, 3rd.