Courtesy of Sand Mountain Reporter
Unbeaten and sixth-ranked Cleveland outscored West End 33-26 last Friday (Sept. 9) in a Class 2A, Region 7 shootout in Walnut Grove.
Cleveland (3-0, 2-0) and West End (1-3, 0-2) combined for 864 yards in total offense – 521 by the Panthers and 343 by the Patriots. Each team also committed four turnovers.
West End quarterback Payne Stancil completed 15-of-26 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns, all to Andre Little, who had 11 receptions for 214 yards.
Cleveland quarterback Caleb Collum hit 11-of-17 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed 19 times for 67 yards and a score.
Collum threw touchdown passes of 56 yards to Desmond Cozad and 56 yards to Juan Castro, propelling the Panthers to a 15-0 first-quarter cushion. Collum rushed for a two-point conversion after his scoring strike to Castro.
The Patriots’ first score came on Stancil’s 18-yard pass to Little with 1:16 left in the first quarter.
West End trimmed its deficit to 15-13 on Stancil’s 17-yard touchdown toss to Little with 4:38 remaining in the second period.
Juan Castro’s 27-yard field goal on the final play of the first half gave Cleveland an 18-13 lead.
The Patriots grabbed a 19-18 advantage when Jordan Malin intercepted Collum and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown at the 9:20 mark of the third quarter.
Cleveland regained the lead on Adriam Hernandez’s 6-yard run with 4:55 to go in the third. Nicholas Randolph rushed for two points, making it 26-19.
Collum rushed 14 yards for a touchdown with 10:18 remaining in the fourth period. Castro’s extra point extended Cleveland’s margin to 33-18.
Stancil fired a 30-yard scoring pass to Little with 1:57 remaining in the game. Stancil’s point-after trimmed it to 33-26.
West End hosts region rival Tarrant for homecoming this Friday (Sept. 12).