GREENVILLE — The Washington Panthers went into their bye week looking to improve on their offensive and defensive line play and the practice paid off, as they were able to top the Chocowinity Indians 22-8 in an 8U division Community Youth Football League showdown Saturday at J.H. Rose High School.
In a battle between two undefeated teams, the Panthers’ (4-0) play up front was critical as they were able to rush for two touchdowns and slow down a strong Indians’ (3-1) ground game.
“It was a big win for us,” Panthers coach Keith Mitchell said “We had a bye week last week and we really focused on that line of scrimmage and I thought today we played strong on the line.”
Kasey Alligood, Jonathan Fields, Austin Cherry, Perry Fields and Ronan Lewis played strong on the D-line, while Cherry, Lewis, Dylan Green, M.J. Moore and Walker Heath paved the way for Jonathan Fields to run for two TDs. Fields also returned a kickoff 60 yards for a score to start the second half.
The loss was a hard fought one for the Indians, who were without their top rusher Jody Pierce, who got hurt in the first half.
Down 14-0 at halftime, Chocowinity looked to step up its play in the second half and it did. The Indians were able to put eight points on the board when quarterback Walker Hill rolled to his left and found Jacori Blount in the end zone for a 5-yard TD pass at the end of the fourth. Nick Langley would score the two-point conversion.
“At halftime I settled them down and told them lets just try to play them even in the second half and win the second half and I thought we did that,” said Chocowinity coach Mark Elks.

Washington    8    6    8    0    —    22
Chocowinity      0    0    0    8    —    8

Scoring summary
W — Jonathan Fields 40 run (Fields two points), 1st.
W — Fields 20 run (two points failed), 2nd.
W — Fields 60 kick return (Kasey Alligood two points), 3rd.
C — Jacori Blount five pass from Walker Hill (Nick Langley two points), 4th.