Wyatt Maize Returns Kickoff for Score to Spark Princeton to Easy Win

Wyatt Maize ran back the opening kickoff 70 yards for a score, and Princeton had little trouble putting away Pattonsburg 58-0 Friday for their Homecoming game. Hector Garcia kicked the extra point, and the rest of the game belonged to Princeton.

A long year for Pattonsburg just got even longer during Friday night's battle. Princeton's Gavin Tatum caught one of the Panther backs in the end zone for a safety early in the game, and the Pattonsburg player had to be taken off on a stretcher. Another Panther player was taken off the field with an injury later in the game, and they were already shorthanded, with two players dressed in street clothes.

They showed little resemblance to the Panther teams of the past, which would light up the scoreboard like an arcade game win or lose, and live and die by the passing game. They attempted 5 passes and 29 runs in Friday's game, reversing stats from the last several years.

With Wyatt Maize and Gavin Tatum getting straight tackles for losses from the 21 to the 12, Pattonsburg lined up to punt. They tried a fake punt, but it was snuffed out, and Ryker Fortner tackled Michael Warner at the 20 to give Princeton a short field to work with. A few plays later, Gage Fortner bobbled a snap but took a busted play to the house with 8:36 left in the first to make it 14-0 after Garcia's extra point. With 8:27 left, the safety in question followed to make it 16-0.

After a lengthy delay, Pattonsburg tried a squib kick, but it was covered by Princeton at the Panther 34, and they had another short field to work with. Wyatt Maize burst up the middle 24 yards to the 10. A block in the back penalty and an incompletion made it second and goal at the 20, but Kash Holt's pass in the middle of the field put it at the 8, and Mitchell Walker took a screen pass to the house with 7:39 left in the first to make it 23-0 after Garcia's extra point.

Andrew Fordyce, who lived rent-free in the Pattonsburg backfield all night, forced a quarterback hurry on the next series and Ryker Fortner picked off Warner and took it back to the Pattonsburg one. The play was called back to the Pattonsburg 37 due to a block in the back, but it didn't matter as Gage Fortner aired it out to Judd Henke for six. Hector Garcia added the extra point to make it 30-0 with 6:40 left in the first.

Pattonsburg got their most promising drive going as Michael Warner scrambled for 14 yards for a first down, and Porter Simmons caught a short pass for seven yards to Princeton’s 35. But one of many false start penalties for Pattonsburg derailed the drive, and Dynten Hale, who had never played football and who was out for the first time this year, recorded a sack. A late hit gave Pattonsburg new life at the Princeton 31, but a diving pick by Ryker Fortner killed the drive. Two plays later, Mitchell Walker took a sweep down the left side and cut back down the right side and into the clear for a score with 2:49 left in the first to make it 37-0 after Garcia's kick.

To show the kind of year Pattonsburg has been having, just as it looked like they were finally turning the corner on the next drive, getting some good runs with Porter Simmons to the 40, their biggest lineman, Remington White, got injured at the end of the quarter. Ryker Fortner and Reed Mitchell combined to blow up a fourth and one, and Princeton had the ball at Pattonsburg’s 35.

Mitchell Walker spun his way to the Panther five, but Pattonsburg made a stand as Evan Mason and Kaos Sweiger blew up a running play back to the nine. Gage Fortner made a rare miscue as his knee hit the ground as he was handling a snap. But he atoned for it by throwing a pass to Kash Holt, and Hector Garcia added the extra point to make it 44-0 with 10:45 left in the second.

Princeton began subbing freely to start the second, but they still pulled away. After they forced a three and out, Reed Michell fielded a short kick in Pattonsburg territory. He had one of the hardest hits all night, shoving his own man out of the way as he took it to the house. Hector Garcia added the extra point to make it 51-0.

They got their final score late in the first half when Michael Parsons pounced on a muffed punt at Pattonsburg’s 11. Two plays later, Reed Mitchell got a block from Scotty Briggs and took it to the house to make it 58-0 after Garcia's extra point kick.