Brainerd rally lifts Panthers to first win

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Brainerd had just 187 yards of offense but it was enough for the Panthers to fling their horse collar high and far.

Brainerd snapped its winless streak at four and moved into third place in the District 6-AA football standings with its 29-28 victory over preseason favorite East Ridge.

"We played four quarters," Panthers coach Brian Gwyn said.

They were down 21-7 with six minutes to go but rallied to force overtime where they won it by converting the two-point conversion following Kaylen Stewart's TD reception on a pass from Tevin Walker.

"After East Ridge scored and kicked the extra point I turned to our offensive coordinator and said, 'When we score, we're going for two.'"

The two-point conversion came on a sweep by Walker.

A big play in the comeback came on Kevin Albert blocking a punt and then returning it.

"That play changed momentum," Gwyn said.

Just as the win changed the Panthers' season momentum. It has been a tough season with three of the four losses coming to still-unbeaten teams Ooltewah, Ensworth and Baylor and the fourth coming to Red Bank, which has a winning record.

"One, we got the monkey off our back. We finally got a win, got a taste of winning," Gwyn said. "I don't think we've turned the corner but we've seen some success from working."

The Panthers, he said, are just getting caught up because several players missed off-season workouts. Too, he is slowly getting players back that had been sidelined with academic issues.

"Some guys have their grades straightened out and are now able to contribute. We still have four out but we hope to have them back this week; no later than next week," Gwyn said. "We're finally getting the pieces together."

The Panthers are at home this week to host Austin-East.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.

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