CHOCOWINITY — The 8U Washington Panthers and Chocowinity Indians both scored in the opening period on Saturday morning, but the game was mostly a defensive standoff between the two sides. The Panthers came out on top, 14-6, thanks to a fourth-quarter touchdown by Jeremiah Glaspie.

Glaspie opened the fourth quarter with a powerful run, shedding tackles until he set up the Panthers in the red zone. He immediately followed that by taking the handoff from quarterback Logan Blank and taking off for a 19-yard run to the left into the end zone. Khaliq Marsh punched in the two-point conversion to give the Panthers their decisive 14-6 advantage.

Chaise Smith took the ensuing kickoff and returned it over the midfield to Washington’s 36-yard line. However, the Panthers remained stout on defense, as they were all morning. Brandon Templeton, Walker Kennedy and others combined for three consecutive tackles in the backfield to force a turnover on downs that effectively ended the game.

The Indians struck first after a 5:10 drive to open the game. Zacchaeus Lovick had a highlight-reel play right from the get go when he took the opening kickoff and returned it to the Panthers’ 10-yard line.

Chocowinity took back-to-back penalties, but was still able to score on its first possession. Smith ran in from eight yards out on fourth down to give the Indians an early 6-0 lead.

The Panthers steadily moved down the field. They were bailed out when a rush for a loss was negated by a facemask penalty. Glaspie capped off his team’s first series by answering the Indians’ touchdown with a 19-yard score of his own. It left the game deadlocked at six apiece with 13 ticks left in the first quarter.

The Indians fumbled the ball away to start the second quarter, and Glaspie nearly capitalized by scoring his second touchdown. However, his third-and-14 44-yard touchdown run was washed away by a holding call against the Panthers.

Smith earned a late third-down conversion and carried the Indians into the red zone as time expired, leaving the game still knotted going into halftime.

The Indians made a key defensive stand to start the second half. They forced a turnover on downs to take over in Panther territory. Kymani Pierre took a handoff and nearly caught the edge along the left side, but, per the theme of the game, Kenneth Tucker was there to deliver a stiff tackle.

Chocowinity ended up punting the ball away, and the Panthers began their game-winning drive at the start of the fourth quarter.