Shaw completed 18 of his 36 passing attempts for 430 yards .. with Luke Kreger making nine grabs for 264 yards and catching three of Shaw’s five TD passes. Kreger also got in on the aerial assault for North Penn, throwing a TD to Colton Pellett and a two-point conversion to Riley Oakes.

The Panthers fell behind by 17 points early in the second quarter but closed the gap to just two points in the third, before again going down big as Canton took a 16 point lead late in the third quarter, only for NP-Mansfield to again rally to get to within four points early in the final frame. But Canton would again pull away and put their 51st point on the board with under two minutes remaining in the game. 

The Warriors took an early lead as Aydin Holcomb took it in from 4 yards out with 9:08 left in the first quarter and a good extra-point kick from Alexis McRoberts was followed by a 35-yard field goal from the Canton kicker with 6:15 left to put the Warriors up 10-0. 

The Panthers had punted away their initial possession, leading to the Canton three-pointer, and again were forced to punt on their ensuing possession following the field goal. 

Canton drove from midfield to the NPM five yard line and were poised to tack on another score, but freshman Sudan Benner picked off a Ben Fitch pass to end the Canton threat.

The Panthers took over on their own nine yard line and got it out to the 17 as the teams switched fields for the second quarter, but a Shaw fumble on a keeper gave Canton the ball back on the 18 and Fitch would run it in himself at the 11:15 mark. McRoberts kick was good and Canton led 17-0.

North Penn-Mansfield would start their next possession on their own 43 and start their aerial attack on the Warriors as Shaw found Kreger for a 46-yard TD catch-and-run. Kreger lined up to hold for the extra-point attempt but instead found Oakes in the end zone to make it 17-8 Canton with 8:41 left in the first half.

Canton answered back as Fitch hit Holden Ward for a 17-yard touchdown and McRoberts’ third XP was good to put the Warriors up 24-8 with 6:37 left before the break.

After the teams quickly traded punts, the Panthers took over on their own 40 with five minutes left. A penalty set them back to their 30 and a George Perry run got them back to their 38 before Shaw hit Colton Pellett for a long completion and NPM had the ball at Canton’s 25-yard line. 

Kreger would take a reverse and find his way to the end zone, but a holding penalty set the Panthers back to the 35. Shaw then found Kreger on the sideline and the junior wideout made a spectacular catch to give NP-Mansfield the ball at Canton’s 9-yard line. The drive would stall out and the Panthers faced a 4th-and-goal from the three when Kreger took the pitch and found Pellet for the score. Shaw hit Kreger for the 2-point conversion and the Canton lead was cut to 24-16 with 1:36 left in the half.

The Panthers kept clawing as they came out of the locker rooms and took their first possession at their own 40. They looked to be stopped as they faced a third-and-10 near midfield, but a Canton unsportsmanlike penalty set the Panthers up at the Warrior 34 with a first down. From there, Shaw hit Kreger once again and the 34-yard TD reception pulled the Panthers’ to within two at 24-22 after a failed two-point try with 10:09 left in the third quarter.

Canton answered quickly once again as Fitch led the Warriors on a drive and capped it with a 10-yard run with 6:55 left. The kick was good again and the Warriors extended their lead to 31-22.

NPM took the ensuing possession at their own 29 and Shaw found his favorite target again as Kreger’s catch-and-run gave the Panthers a 1st-and-10 at the Canton 26-yard line. But a Panther fumble gave the Warriors the ball back and Fitch would complete a screen pass to Bailey Gardner and Gardner would score from the NPM 44 with 3:36 left in the third frame. McRoberts was true again and Canton led 38-22.

The Panthers answered again, however, as Kreger and Shaw connected on an 82-yard TD and after another failed two-point try the Canton lead was 38-28 with two and a half minutes left in the third. 

NPM forced Canton to punt on their next drive and the Panthers’ possession started at their own 14 and would take the game into the final quarter. Three straight completions from Shaw .. two to Kreger and one to Pellett .. and a 10-yard run by Oakes got the Panthers to midfield. After drawing the Warriors offsides on a 3rd-and-1 set NPM up at the Canton 41, Shaw hit Oakes on a post route and the slot took it to the house with 10:34 left in the game. After another failed two-point-try the Panthers trailed 38-34.

NPM attempted and recovered an on-side kick to get the ball back, but a Holcomb interception for Canton led to a 46-yard TD pass from Fitch to Ward with eight minutes remaining. A bad snap on the extra point left the Warriors’ lead at 44-34.

Pellett set the Panthers up with a nice kick return at midfield, but after two incompletions the Warriors came up with an interception and took over on their own 40. NPM would force a Canton punt with 3:30 left, but would ultimately turn the ball over on downs and Canton took advantage of the short field, scoring from 21 yards out and, after the good extra point, led 51-34 with 1:45 left in the game. 

NPM kept fighting though and two Shaw completions to Oakes got the Panthers to the Canton 30. From there, Shaw found Braden Henson and the junior made a juggling catch in the end zone with 43 seconds remaining to provide the final score, 51-40.

Perry led the Panthers’ rushing attack with 31 yards on eight carries, while Oakes had 13 yards on two attempts and caught three passes for 78 yards and a score. Pellett had five grabs for 50 yards and a score and Henson added two receptions for 38 yards and a TD.

Defensively, Luke Sexauer and Braden Route had eight tackles each, while Shaw had six and Bennett had a pick and three stops.

The Panthers fall to 1-3 with the loss and will look to rebound next Saturday when they travel to take on Athens.

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