DIXONS MILLS &045; In a tough fought defensive game, the Marengo High School Panthers proved they had more staying power that the Hornets of John Essex High School, winning the game 19-6.

The first half of the game was a war of attrition between the two groups, fought tough for every yard gained and lost. The Panthers got it together and drew first blood, and only blood, in the first half of play.

After fielding a John Essex High School punt, Marengo High School started their drive with good field position at the John Essex 32-yard line. A six-yard run and a Hornet penalty for too many players moved the ball to the 21, and Jeremy Bouler moved the pigskin to the two before a holding penalty pushed it back to the 12. Quinton Walker took it to the outside on the next play and ran in for the touchdown, 6-0.

While the Hornets couldn’t get a first down in the half and struggled to get positive yardage, they held the Panthers to only 142 yards. The second half the Panthers came out and again made a trip to the end zone, taking the ball from the opening kick off at their own 39 to score in five plays, 13-0.

James Dumas proved the largest catalyst of the drive moving the ball from the Panther 47 down to the 16. Dante Packer finished it off with a 16-yard foot churner up the middle.

The Hornets answered the call on the next drive, though the group had help from a Panther unit that had 14 penalties on the game for 123 yards. Two big personal fouls got the Hornets out of a fourth and long situation and then moved them to the eight-yard line, which eventually ended with a touchdown on a quarterback keeper by Gerald Bruno, 13-6.

The game again returned to war in the trenches, where the defense was the ultimate winner for several more drives. The last touchdown came from the Panthers in the form of a two yard run on third down by James Dumas with 30.6 seconds left in the game, 19-6.