Crosson's big night not enough for Tiftarea

Sep. 10—PERRY — Cubbie Crosson threw for 322 yards Friday night for Tiftarea Academy but the Panthers felt the sting of a potent Westfield offense Friday, falling 63-34.

The Panthers might have nightmares about Westfield quarterback Hunter Kirkley for years to come. Kirkley was electric on the ground and through the air, with a hand in seven of the Hornets' nine touchdowns.

Westfield jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the 1st period. Tiftarea nearly kept pace the rest of the way, but could not make a significant dent in the Hornets' advantage.

Kirkley scored first, an 8-yard run on the fourth play from scrimmage. Westfield had started at Tiftarea's 45 after a short punt and Kirkley immediately hit Ryan Powers for a 15-yard gain. Kirkley scooted for 23 yards just before converting the touchdown off right tackle.

Jackson Slade hit the first of his nine extra point kicks and the Hornets were ahead 7-0 at 9:05 in the 1st.

Powers doubled that at 6:41, a 72-yard pass that spent half its time airborne. Westfield shook off a block in the back penalty on its third scoring drive, with Kirkley running the ball in from 22 yards out with 3 minutes left.

The Panthers had to overcome themselves in the 1st quarter, though Crosson showed deadly accuracy from the start. He completed six of his eight passing attempts. He accumulated an unofficial 84 yards in the those 12 minutes. Amazingly, he did even better in the 2nd.

Crosson hit Pate Suber for 32 yards on the first play of the 2nd, with Suber tackled at the 1. There, Brown burrowed his way in for Tiftarea's first score at 11:13.

Suber caught a conversion pass from Crosson and score was now 21-8.

Unfortunately for the visitors, that meant Westfield's offense was on the field again.

J.R. Walker broke up a Kirkley pass. That caused the Hornets to shift tactics and let Kirkley run. He zig-zagged his way for 36 yards at 9:48 for another score.

Forty-one combined points were scored in the 2nd quarter alone Friday. Shockingly, both were teams were stopped on a possession in that stretch.

Matthew Malone booted a 41-yard punt, then the Panthers got it right back when Cody Griffin covered a dropped Westfield snap.

Starting at Westfield's 42, the Panthers went in for a quick touchdown, though they had to convert a 4th down to keep the drive alive.

A false start had turned a 4th-and-3 to 4th-and-8, but Crosson found John Jackson on a beautiful sideline route that covered 35 yards and sent Jackson rolling into the hedge.

One play later, the Panthers fed Brown on a delayed handoff and he scurried into the end zone from 15 yards out. A run for two points failed and the score was 28-14 at 6:04.

Westfield shared the ball with someone else on their next drive and Cameron Kalmbach sprinted 66 yards at 5:44 for the touchdown.

Tiftarea's next drive was nearly as fast, 65 yards in two plays. The second of those plays was a 56-yard pass from Crosson to Brown at 4:55. A two-point pass failed and it was 35-20.

The Panthers almost shut down Westfield on a second 2nd quarter drive, but Lady Luck had other ideas.

On 3rd-and-10 at their own 40, Kirkley fired a pass off Powers' hands. However, the tip landed right in the arms of William Smith. The 16 yards gained resulted in a first down.

Four plays later, Kirkley ran for a 12-yard touchdown with 1:32 left in the half.

The Hornets had three more touchdowns in them in the 3rd quarter.

Kirkley ran for a 7-yard score at 10:38. After a Powers interception, Kirkley ran it in from 2 yards at 8:26. Finally, Kalmbach had a 48-yard run at 1:43.

In between, Crosson completed six straight passes, caught by four different receivers. Another had a catch earlier on the same drive.

The last pass went to Jackson, who made a catch in the back right corner of the end zone at 1:56. Brown caught a two-point pass from Crosson.

With a running clock in the 4th quarter, Crosson had one last touchdown pass to share.

Jackson out-jumped a Westfield cornerback at the 1 and walked in for a 28-yard touchdown at 7:49. Suber caught Crosson's pass on the two-point attempt, but was stopped short of goal.

Substitutes finished out the rest of the contest. Walker had three runs for 10 yards in his time as quarterback.

Crosson completed 22 of 33 passes for an official 322 yards, according to team stats input on MaxPreps. Six receivers had receptions, Jackson leading the way with 7 catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns.

Brown had 67 receiving yards and one touchdown. That went with his two rushing touchdowns.

Kirkley had 6 completions in 9 attempts, all in the first half. He had 167 passing yards, 87 (and a touchdown) by Powers.

On the ground, Kirkley ran for 213 yards and six touchdowns. Kalmbach had two scores on 117 yards.

The Panthers, now 0-4, will host Wilcox County Sept. 16. The Patriots, though 0-3, have been ranked in GHSA Class A all season.