Blacksher halts Marengo in key region contest

By Jeremy Sellers

Special to The Watchman

URIAH — On a night where the scoreboard was not working at John Sawyer field in Uriah, the J.U. Blacksher Bulldogs defeated the Marengo Panthers by a final count 47-22.

Coming into the contest, J.U. Blacksher, Marengo, Chickasaw and Millry were all tied for first place in 1A, rRgion 1. The loss does not knock the Panthers out of the playoffs, but it makes their chances of winning the region next to impossible.

Blacksher junior quarterback Jeremy Redditt accounted for five touchdowns on the night including four on the ground.

Marengo scored their first touchdown late in the first quarter when Michael Kennedy took the ball 51 yards around right side. The two-point conversion attempt was also successful, which left the Panthers down 14-8 at the time.

J.U. Blacksher reeled off 20 unanswered points before the Panthers would get on the board again. Marengo managed a 41-yard connection between quarterback Cordarius Pritchett and Quindarus Ausbon at the 1:35 mark in the first half. Pritchett attempted to run the two-point attempt into the end zone but was stopped just shy of paydirt.

Marengo’s final score came with 53 seconds left in the third quarter of play. This time, Pritchett hooked up with Kennedy for a 31-yard touchdown connection. On the two-point attempt, Pritchett found Alphonzo Lewis in the end zone to cut the Blacksher lead to 34-22.

The Bulldogs would score 13 unanswered down the stretch to defeat the Marengo Panthers by a final count of 47-22.

Marengo (5-3, 3-2 1A, Region 1) will travel to Beatrice next Friday to take on J.F. Shields. J.U. Blacksher (7-1, 5-1) will play host to McKenzie in a non-region contest.