O’Fallon offense takes over in Panthers’ football win against Belleville East
O’Fallon football played strong on both sides of the ball as the team dominated the Lancers in Saturday afternoon’s Southwestern Conference game at Belleville East.
The Panthers threw a whopping six touchdowns in their 49-13 win against the Lancers.
Both squads fought hard in this conference battle as the season continues into October.
O’Fallon improved to 5-1 and 3-1 in SWC play, while the Lancers’ loss has them at 3-3, 1-2.
“We will go back to the drawing board going into next week, just have to do all the little stuff better,” Lancers coach Michael Harrison said.
The Lancers’ defense got off to a solid start with senior Jayden Howard getting a sack during the Panthers’ first drive of the game.
But senior wide receiver Jalen Smith put the Panthers up 7-0 with a catch from senior quarterback Colt Michael for a 9-yard reception with 5 minutes, 6 seconds left in the first quarter.
O’Fallon started the second quarter with the ball and scored a passing touchdown to senior Christian Joiner with 7:22 on the clock, putting the team up 14-0.
The Lancers could not get anything going with their offense as the first half dwindled. Michael threw his third touchdown of the day, this one to Joiner again, with 4:12 left in the second quarter. The Panthers led the game 21-0 going into the second half.
O’Fallon stretched the lead to 28-0 with Smith’s second touchdown reception of the day with 8:16 left in the third quarter.
Smith broke the single-season O’Fallon touchdown record with his 11th touchdown catch on the season.
“The kid is a good student, hardworker and he was the only returning receiver All-Conference from last year,” O’Fallon coach Byron Gettis Sr. said.
Junior cornerback Jorden Suggs’ interception helped put the Panthers in good field position with Michael’s fourth passing touchdown to Joiner at the 7:00 mark in the third quarter.
“We pound the ball through the middle, they try to crash through the box, and we throw it out to our playmakers,” Michael said. “So it just makes my job really easy.”
Junior Darron Millender Jr. took over the starting quarterback position for Belleville East in the second half and passed for the Lancers’ first touchdown of the day. He threw it to junior Armon Vinson with 8.4 seconds left, which made it 35-7 to end the third quarter.
O’Fallon went on a 53-yard drive to begin the fourth quarter, with junior running back Kylan Green’s 3-yard touchdown run at 10:26; the Panthers’ extended the lead to 42-7.
After East fumbled the ball in the fourth quarter, the backups for the Panthers saw some time on the field. Sophomore Maddox English threw a 30-yard touchdown to Tucker Lehman with 8:59 left.
With 7:28 left in the fourth quarter, junior Brandon Coleman got loose for a 43-yard touchdown run, making it 49-13.
The Panthers had four sacks during the game: three from senior Kaleb Randolph and one from sophomore Jayden Mcgee. They also forced two turnovers with an interception from Suggs and a fumble recovery from Randolph.
“Our team plays together with good team leadership,” Gettis Sr. said. “They’re hungry, and I’m excited.”
Next Up
Both teams resume conference play at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7 as East visits Edwardsville and O’Fallon visits West.
This story was originally published October 1, 2022 at 7:04 PM.