EAGLE GROVE — For the first time in three weeks the Panorama football team failed to score on defense or with the special teams, but thanks to a increasingly deadly aerial attack it hardly mattered.
Freshman quarterback Luke South connected on 18-of-30 passes, hitting seven different receivers for 261 total yards and four touchdowns while being intercepted once as the Panthers pasted host Eagle Grove, 35-0, Friday in Class 1A District 6 play. The win moved Panorama to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in district action while Eagle Grove fell to 1-5 and 1-3. The Eagles are a combined 2-40 since the start of the 2012 season.
Senior all-stater Levi Leiferman caught six passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns, with Garrett Simmons pulling in four balls for 74 yards and a score while Blaine Barber had three snags for 28 yards and a TD. Gunnar Grunsted (2-17), Tanner Godfrey (1-32), Trey Cobb (1-20), and Gracen Welberg (1-11) also caught South aerials. Welberg connected on his only passing attempt, with Kolby Burns losing two yards on the play.
South and Simmons connected for the only score of the first quarter on a 34-yard strike, with Michael Allen kicking the first of his five PATs for a 7-0 lead.
A seven-yard dart to Leiferman and an eight-yard completion to Barber accounted for the two Panther TDs in the second period as the guests entered the locker room with a 21-0 advantage.
The Eagles went nowhere against the Panther defense, with Nikolas Padilla picked off twice while hitting on 8-of-22 attempts for 60 yards, with Lincoln Miller catching four passes for 52 yards to lead the hosts.
Brayden Lyman ran three times for 77 yards, but Evan Anderson needed 16 carries to gain 17 yards while Padilla added 14 yards on 11 runs as the Eagle Grove ground game was unable to sustain any drives. The hosts converted on 2-of-7 fourth down attempts but were a combined 0-for-13 on third down plays.
Brody Rickheim broke loose for a 19-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, with South finding Leiferman for a 36-yard TD in the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.
Running back by committee was the nature of the game again in week six for the Panthers, as the team compiled 145 yards on 28 carries, with 45 yards on nine carries from Rickheim leading the way. South (7-37), Leiferman (2-29) and Barber (3-28) were the top ground gainers.
Barber and Cobb each had an interception for the Panorama defense, with Grunsted making 5.5 tackles and Daniel Jensen five, of which two were sacks and one was for a loss of yardage. Jeramy Randol also had a sack and a stop behind the line of scrimmage.
Lyman’s 11.5 tackles led the Eagle Grove defense, with Ryan Smith picking up a fumble and returning the ball 27 yards while Miller had 18 return yards on his interception.
Panorama will host Northwest Webster (3-3, 2-2) Friday for Homecoming 2016. The Cougars fell to visiting South Hamilton, 23-16, in the first week of district play before 20-8 wins against both Eagle Grove and host West Central Valley. They were 45-0 victims to a powerful Van Meter team last Friday.
