Panthers Felt The Thunder, As Zimmerman Rolls Over GSL: Game Recap
In last night's game in Zimmerman, we saw the Thunder roll to a 20-7 victory over the Panthers of Glencoe-Silver Lake. Here is a game recap of what took place in Zimmerman.
In a game that started with a stout defense, the end of the first quarter was led by RB Mitchel Jaskowiak who took the ball in for 10-yard rushing touchdown in the late 1st quarter to put the Panthers of Glencoe-Silver Lake ahead 7-0 over the Thunder.
Coming off big stuff on 4th down by DL Hunter Nelson, the Thunder offense took the field and with a blitz coming, QB Carter McEachern was able to find a massive hole in the Panthers defense and run it for a 60-yard rushing touchdown. At 6'6, McEachern has great up the field speed. With a false start on the 1st extra point, the ball was put back for a 26 yard XP and the kick was no good from Zimmerman making the game 7-6 with Glencoe-Silver Lake still leading. After a big play by RB Dillon Tucker being wiped out by a costly penalty on the Thunder QB, Carter McEachern found one of his favorite targets in WR Rylan Rivers for a big 36-yard pass to put the Thunder within striking distance of a TD with the ball on the 14-yard line. After some a mix of pass and run plays, it was QB Carter McEachern with the one-yard punch in for his 2nd touchdown of the night with 4 seconds before halftime to put Zimmerman up 12-7 at halftime.
The 3rd quarter was a defensive battle for both sides. Max Edwards, Zach Mohr, and Mitch Klochmann were the gamers for this Panthers defense all game. I also liked the physicality, CB Riley Ruzicka brought to the table with the Thunder receivers throughout the game.
After a key stop on 4th down, the Thunder stuck with the gameplan and QB Carter McEachern got his 3rd touchdown of the night to put the Zimmerman Thunder up 20-7. As if he hadn't already had an excellent senior night for the Zimmerman Thunder, the Glencoe-Silver Lake Panthers dropped back to pass and the ball was picked off by no one other than Carter McEachern to put the final icing on the cake for the Thunder to finish their season 7-1 as of this morning, are receiving votes in the 4A football poll.
I caught up with QB Carter McEachern after the game to ask about Zimmerman's excellent senior night. "It was a great team win and a great way to send off our seniors, now we are off to sections and we need to kick make sure we kick butt in practice and next week"
The Glencoe-Silver Lake (5-3) will await their section seedings in 3A which will be coming out today. It sounds like they will be either a 1 or 2 seed, so it will be interesting to see how that shakes out. Zimmerman (7-1) will also await their section pairing in which they should end up with a 2 or 3 seed.
Look for Nate's Big Dogs of the Week columns from this game coming out today, where we look at who stood out on offense and defense for Zimmerman and Glencoe-Silver Lake.
