Thou shalt not pass — Gateway's Dylan Dingle (0) and Nathaniel Cadogan (6) team up to stop a Cypress Creek ballcarrier Friday. (Photo/Taylor McFee)
It will go down as a night of firsts for Gateway football.
The Panthers notched their first win of the season, scored their first offensive touchdowns of the season, and put an opponent on a running clock for the first time since 2022 as they manhandled Cypress Creek, 36-0.
“It was a good win, one we needed,” Panther coach Marlin Roberts said. “I felt we had a real chance to win the first two games of the season and we just shot ourselves in the foot on both times. Although I will never complain about a shutout win, I know we still have a lot of room for improvement.”
Gateway scored about every way imaginable—reaching the end zone via blocked field goal return, pass, run, and interception return.
On its opening possession, Cypress Creek moved into the Gateway red zone but on fourth down the Panthers blocked a field goal attempt and Dionysus Dowd returned it 70 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead.
Johnny Reyes II put the Panthers back in business moments later with a 32-yard punt return. QB Aristotle Span Jr. hit Dory Thimote on a 12-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to make it 13-0.
The Panther defense set up the next score. With Cypress Creek having issues with its punting game, the Bears went for it on 4th and 14 on their own 31. The pass fell incomplete and on the first play from scrimmage, Honor Kim went 32 yards for a score to up the lead to 21-0.
Penalties hampered both teams for the remainder of the half. On Cypress Creek’s first possession after the Kim score, six consecutive penalties were called – three on each team. A couple of personal fouls on Gateway and a 46-yard pass play moved the Bears down to the Panthers 10, but on the next play Isaiah Noel came up with an interception to end the drive.
It would be Cypress Creek’s last real scoring opportunity. While neither team mustered much offense in the second half, Gateway used two big defensive plays to tack on two more scores. Dylan Dingle returned an interception 38 yards to the Cypress Creek 10. Three plays later, Nydrell Thigpen ran it in from the six. The Panthers closed out the scoring on a Reyes 45-yard pick-six interception return.
Thimote, who lines up at wide receiver, tight end, defensive end and linebacker for Gateway, had a huge night. In addition to his touchdown grab, he had three quarterback sacks and two tackles-for-loss. With losses factored in, the Panthers allowed less than 100 yards of Bears offense.
Overall, the Panthers recorded 10 defensive stops, came up with three turnovers, blocked a kick, registered three interceptions, had five quarterback sacks and six other tackles-for-loss.
“Defensively, we played pretty well for a third straight game,” Roberts said. “We sill need to clean up a lot of things.”
Those things included penalties. Gateway was whistled 17 times for 145 yards; while Cypress Creek had 15 for 108 yards.
The Panthers (1-2) will have a chance to even their record next week when they host Lake Region, an 8-7 winner over Celebration Friday.
