This upcoming Saturday, Dec. 5, the Patuxent Panthers will travel to M&T Bank Stadium, and intend on leaving there with the program’s first state championship. The program has two state finals appearances prior to this year, but both times fell to a product of the Frederick County school system. This time, they will play a Frederick County school again, this one being Walkersville. Both of these schools have had the same fate in recent history, and that was falling to Middletown in the playoffs. For the Panthers, that was in the 2013 state final.
For Walkersville, that was in the 2010-2012 region final. They overcame that hump this year, and are now in the state final.
They are led into battle by junior running back Chad Gleason. Gleason stacked up 1,429 yards on 236 carries, which is good enough for just over 6 yards per carry. He also had 15 scores on the season. He has nearly twice the rushing yards of the next highest total on the Lions team. They have a decent passing game, with sophomore Billy Gant at the helm. Gant completed just under 50 percent of his passes for 763 yards, and 13 touchdowns. Gant’s number one target this year has been Jacob Wetzel, who has only 11 catches, and 4 touchdowns. Gant has another weapon that has been a common occurrence the Panthers have had to face. Kyle Daggett is the tight end for the Lions, and stands 6’6, 195 pounds. The Panthers defense will have to find some way to slow down this running game, and neutralize the height advantage the Lions have in Daggett.
For Patuxent, Jaelen Gross will start at quarterback, and Jared Massengill will play. Massengill went down, and had to be helped off the field with a minute left in the Panthers 17-8 victory in the state semifinals. He is one of four players on the Panthers roster with state championship experience. Massengill, Greg Leonard, Tyler Gross, and Tim Nickisch will get over the shock factor, and will look to calm their teammates down.
The Panthers have a slight experience advantage, and showed that they could neutralize height with last weeks game. The only thing that could really doom the Panthers is if they shoot themselves in the foot. They must continue to limit their penalties, and turnovers as they have these last two weeks. If they do, they should be able to bring home a state title.