Panthers defeat Poinciana, 17-7
Poinciana quarterback Lucas Minenok threw for 107 yards and a score Friday as he worked to keep the Eagles in the game. (Photo/Ken Jackson)
Gateway’s taking its 2026 football cues from DJ Khaled: All they do is win, win, win, no matter what.
And they can add another ‘win’ to that lyric, as a 17-7 victory Friday over Poinciana has produced the first 4-0 win in the history of the Panthers program that goes back to 1985.
A defense that has now given up just 32 points in four games did its thing again, forcing seven negative-yardage plays including four sacks in the first half and limiting the trailing Eagles (3-2) to 13 second-half snaps.
Junior running back Nydrell Thigpen (28 carries, 204 yards) had his second straight 200-yard game and is now over 750 rushing yards just four games into the season.
Still, this was a one-possession game until the five minute mark when the Panthers got another sack to force an Eagles punt in the shadow of their own goalposts, then forced a safety after a bad punt snap to turn a 15-7 lead into a two-score game.
“Seems like this kids are comfortable with their backs to the wall late in the game,” GHS Coach Marlin Roberts said. “Then we win and they’re pretty quiet. It’s good to think the kids feel like they have a little more left to show.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Poinciana struck first when Jamarie Williams outlept his defender and hauled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Lucas Minenok to give the Eagles an early second quarter lead.
But the Panthers and Thigpen answered with a score of their own to take the lead. He followed a 40-yard run around the right end with a 24-yard scoring run, then added the two-pointer to give Gateway an 8-7 lead that it’d take into halftime.
Gateway stretched the lead to 15-7 to open the third quarter on a 14-play, 82-yard drive that chewed up 7:37 of the clock. After Thigpen did more of the heavy lifting, on fourth-and-goal from the 9 the Panthers went playaction and quarterback Aristotle Span. Jr. hit Dylan Dingle on a drag route for a touchdown on just his second pass attempt and first completion of the game.
From there, aside from a fourth-and-6 from the Poinciana 48, when Roberts and his staff gambled on the first play of the fourth quarter and Nate Cadogen took an end around 18 yards for a first down, the Panthers’ defense made all the plays, forcing the safety and a pair of four-and-outs to prevent any comeback.
Dingle is one senior on a Gateway team that hasn't seen the playoffs since 2018. He said he doesn't see the Panthers as a 4-0 team, just one that is invested in its weekly process.
"We just went 1-0 again," he said. "Monday we're going to start to work to do it again."
Gateway puts that undefeated mark on the line Thursday at Nova Lakes (2-3), who fell 36-20 to Colonial on Friday. Poinciana jumps back into District 6A-9 Friday at Winter Haven (2-2), with both looking to reach 2-0 in district play.
