Courtesy of Opelika-Auburn News
Gaston High’s postseason began and ended at Lanett last Friday (Nov. 4).
Behind eight touchdowns from Tre Story, the Panthers (9-2) cruised to a 68-13 victory in the first round of the Class 2A state playoffs.
Story threw for six TDS and rushed for another two.
Gaston (6-5) forced a fumble – which ended up being the Panthers’ sole turnover of the game – on Lanett’s first drive and took a 7-0 lead one play later on D.J. Pope’s 1-yard run at 9:46 of the first quarter.
The lead didn’t last long, though.
Story marched his team down the field in just a single minute of game time and capped the drive with the first of his rushing touchdowns, a weaving 18-yard dart through traffic, to pull the score even. Lanett took the lead for good six minutes later with Story’s first passing score.
Kevin Hollingsworth 5-yard touchdown midway through the second quarter cut the Lanett lead to 28-13, but the visitors couldn’t keep pace with the Panther offense.
“We knew that we wouldn’t stop them; it was the idea that we tried to match with them,” said Gaston head coach Swane Morris. “At the first of the game we tried to stay with them a little bit, and they just ran away from us there at the end.”
