Panthers put mute on Thunderbirds' offense

Nothing seemed to work for the North Callaway Thunderbirds' offense.

North Callaway managed just 210 net yards and committed four turnovers Friday night as the No. 2 seed Thunderbirds were shut out by No. 3 Palmyra 36-0 in the Class 2, District 6 semifinals.

North Callaway ended its first season under head coach Kevin O'Neal with a 6-5 record. Palmyra (7-4) will play for the District 6 title next Friday night at top-seeded Bowling Green (9-2). The Bobcats advanced by victimizing No. 5 seed Van-Far 71-20 in Friday night's other semifinal.

Palmyra won at Bowling Green 22-14 in overtime on Aug. 29.

O'Neal emphasized last week that the Thunderbirds needed to re-establish their running game after being held to a season-low 39 yards in a 48-24 quarterfinal victory over No. 7 seed Montgomery County on Oct. 24 in Kingdom City.

North Callaway finished with 111 yards rushing Friday night, but produced just 25 in the first half. Senior quarterback Cole Branson topped the Thunderbirds with 65 yards on nine carries, while sophomore running back J.T. Higgins had only 25 yards in nine attempts.

A week after throwing for 329 yards and five touchdowns, Branson connected on 8-of-16 passes for just 99 yards Friday night and was intercepted three times. Junior wide receiver Tyler Mattes had three catches for a team-high 39 yards, while sophomore wide receiver A.J. Stubblefield came up with three grabs for 34 yards.

"Palmyra is a very good football team and well-coached; we knew they were going to be very aggressive on defense," O'Neal said. "We couldn't get anything going on offense."

The Panthers, meanwhile, put up 305 yards of total offense, including 202 on the ground. Junior slot receiver Travis Harvey logged a game-high 107 yards on 20 carries and scored twice, while senior slot receiver Mason Franklin added 41 yards in six attempts.

Palmyra also exploited North Callaway through the air. Junior quarterback Ben Cheffey finished 6-of-12 passing for 103 yards and three touchdowns, all to senior wide receiver Skyler Kline. Cheffey was intercepted once, while Kline had four catches for 65 yards and two carries for 42 yards.

The Panthers took an 8-0 lead with 3 minutes, 26 seconds left in the first quarter on Harvey's 1-yard touchdown run. They added the two-point conversion on a pass from Cheffey to senior wide receiver Miles Kite.

Palmyra's next score came from its defense when Higgins was tackled in the end zone for a safety at the 7:54 mark of the second quarter. Harvey then extended the Panthers' advantage on a 4-yard touchdown run with 3:34 left.

Cheffey followed up by connecting with Kline on an 8-yard touchdown pass with :22 to go, powering Palmyra into halftime with a 24-0 edge.

The Panthers produced their final two scores on Cheffey touchdown passes of 14 and 26 yards, respectively, to Kline in the third quarter.