Brainerd’s Terrance Lee had extra motivation Saturday afternoon to leave his mark at the Howard Hustlin’ Tigers’ “Den.”
The junior defensive back came up big for the Panthers in their 14-6 victory, with Lee intercepting a pass in the red zone and showing good form on a leg tackle in the end zone for a safety in the third quarter.
“Today really meant a lot to me. Seeing my mom here really inspired me and pushed me to do great,” Lee said. “I hadn’t seen her in about half a year. She moved away, and I wanted to stay here and play with my guys. We are a close group. To win the day like we did meant a lot to do it in front of my mom.”
Gaining yardage against Howard’s massive defensive front was not easy. Roy Miles Jr., Jurshuan Torrey and Ontarrius Woodruff helped the Hustlin’ Tigers (0-2) limit the Panthers (1-1) to 17 rushing yards through the first three quarters.
However, Brainerd senior running back Cameron Sanders rushed for 52 of the Panthers’ 80 yards in the fourth quarter, and sophomore Martels Carter Jr. finished the game with 130 offensive yards (70 passing, 60 rushing) and an 18-yard catch.
Carter’s 2-yard leap into the end zone with 7:05 left in the first half provided the first points of the game, and the touchdown was set up by Jeremy Ferguson’s 17-yard pass to Willie Graves on third-and-long and a hard-nosed 13-yard run by fullback Mike Brooks. The Panthers’ lead grew to 14-0 on Carter’s 20-yard touchdown run with 1:50 left.
Carter could have had an even bigger day statistically, but he had an 81-yard touchdown pass to Graves and 60- and 20-yard rushing scores called back by penalties.
“We can be nasty once we clean things up and jell more together,” Carter said. “I am proud of our guys who blocked against their big old boys and got the job done. It was hot out there today, but we had more left in the tank than they did.”
Freshman speedster Reggie Hubbard finished with 76 receiving yards for the Panthers, including a spectacular 63-yard grab in full stride on a beautiful pass deep down the middle from Carter.
Brainerd’s defense allowed 155 yards and came up with a huge goal-line stand in the fourth quarter. After London Cross and Ja’Caron Sanders helped Howard reach the 1-yard line, the Panthers stuffed the run three times in a row before Derrion Calloway’s interception on fourth down ended the threat and maintained an 8-0 lead with 7:55 left.
Tariq Morris scored Howard’s first touchdown of the season with an impressive 57-yard leaping catch-and-run on a pass from Christian Holland in the final minute. Morris finished with 72 total yards.
Anthony Byrd’s punting helped Brainerd’s field position, and freshman offensive lineman Dejuan Taylor also played well.
“Howard’s No. 44 and 50 are pretty unblockable,” Brainerd coach Martels Carter said, referring to Woodruff and Miles. “That is a great defensive line they had, and we had to scheme ways to get around them. I am happy for our young men. Terrance Lee had a strong game today, and he’s been one of our hardest workers since we took over in March. He has put in a lot of extra time with coach Sammy Seamster, and he has lined himself up for success.”
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.