Three Bartow County Panthers teams reach NWGYFL Super Bowl games
Three Bartow County Panthers youth football teams have reached the Northwest Georgia Youth Football League's Super Bowl games in their initial season in the league. The 9U and 12U Panthers will play for Division I titles in the NWGYFL, while the 10U Panthers will play for the 9/10 year old D2 championship. The games will be played this Saturday at North Cobb High School
9U BARTOW COUNTY PANTHERS 30, ROSS ELITE LONGHORNS 7
The 9U Bartow County Panthers advanced to the Northwest Georgia Youth Football League’s Super Bowl Saturday at North Cobb High School by defeating Ross Elite in the league semifinals this past Saturday, 30-7.
Quarterback Trace Hawkins rushed for 65 yards and was 7-for-17 through the air for 117 yards and one touchdown. The touchdown pass was a 21-yarder to Solomon James, who also returned a fumble recovery 40 yards for a score. Three other Panthers scored rushing touchdowns in the victory.
J’Tayvious Whatley rushed for 56 yards and one touchdown. Cooper Melvin added 36 yards and a score, while Kaiden Kent contributed 21 rushing yards and one touchdown. Kayden Blackwell and Kent had two catches each for 32 yards apiece. Lance Tippett hauled in one pass for 25 yards and Melvin added a seven yard reception. James, Melvin, and Nathan Woods were the top tacklers for Bartow County. Kent had an interception and Melvin also added a fumble recovery. The Panthers (9-0) will face the Acworth Warriors (8-2) in Saturday’s title game at 5 p.m. “Acworth has really continued to get better since our first game with them,” said Bartow coach Quintin Kent. “We expect the game Saturday to be a real battle.” Acworth defeated Rome 7-6 to reach the championship game. 10U BARTOW COUNTY PANTHERS 52, ACWORTH WARRIORS BLUE 0
Demarcus Ballenger paced the 10U Bartow County Panthers this past Saturday with three touchdown runs and scored a pair of extra points. The scoring runs by Ballenger were from 55, 20, and 10 yards. Jake Orton scored on touchdown runs of 65 and 40 yards. Grayson Warmack ran in a touchdown from five yards and added a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown. Jeremy Dent scored on a five yard run and Lawson Weeks scored a pair of extra points. Coach Jody Orton gave credit for Saturday’s success to the Panthers’ offensive line play. Colton Graham, Deon Winters, Tripp Powell, Jorian Bailey, and Tremon Buckner dominated the line of scrimmage according to Orton. Micah Pittman and Elijah Beaulieu had kickoff fumble recoveries for the Panthers. 10 Bartow County will square off against Rome Saturday at North Cobb High School at 1 p.m. for the 10U D2 championship.
12U BARTOW COUNTY PANTHERS 33, WINSTON KNIGHTS 6
The 12U Bartow County Panthers defeated the Winston Knights this past Saturday in the NWGYFL semifinals 33-6 to reach the league’s Super Bowl game. The title contest for Bartow will be a third meeting with the Douglasville TigerCubs Saturday night at 7 p.m. at North Cobb High School. Regular season champion Douglasville (8-2) handed the Panthers their only losses during the league’s regular season schedule. In this past Saturday’s dominant win over Winston, Bartow County (8-2) rolled up 338 rushing yards and 407 total yards. “The offensive line really opened up some holes,” said Panthers’ coach Josh McWhorter. “Peyton Emery, Piere Kincer, Judd Hyde, Bryce Wilson, Cooper Moon, Price Higgins, Xavier Parker, Davis Waddell, and Bear McWhorter all contributed in the rotation across the front.” Baylon Long led all rushers with 168 yards and two touchdowns on 10 attempts. He was followed by Isaiah Livsey with 90 yards and a pair of scores on eight carries. Livsey also caught a 12-yard touchdown pass. Keve Porter finished with 29 rushing yards on three carries and caught two passes for 30 yards. Jacob Ellis had 27 yards on five carries. Quarterback Brodie McWhorter, who was 5-for-9 passing for 69 yards and a touchdown, ran three times for 17 yards. Jachai Delgado contributed three carries for five yards and Cooper Moon added a two-yard carry. Xavier Parker and Logan Shrewsbury caught one pass each for 23 and 4 yards, respectively. “Our offense had one of its best performances of the year,” added McWhorter. “The defense also played sound against a great quarterback.”
The Panthers allowed only 91 yards and one touchdown on 25 rushing attempts. The Knights were also limited to only 1-of-10 through the air for 24 yards. The Panthers picked off three Winston passes. Long led the Bartow County defense with 7.5 tackles. Ellis followed with 5.5 and Isaiah Livsey finished with four tackles. Talan Nix, Josh Love, and Shrewsbury had the interceptions for the Panthers’ defense.
Rounding out the tackling stats for Bartow were Delgado with 2.5 tackles. Will Feurbach and Nix had two each. Shrewsbury (1.5), Bear McWhorter (1), Brodie McWhorter (1), Bailey Berry (1), Kelson Mitchell (.5) and Porter (.5) all contributed on defense.
Information for the youth football updates provided by the Cartersville Parks and Recreation Department, the Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department, and the Bartow County Panthers youth football program. The updates are sponsored on Bartow Sports Zone by Cici's - Beyond Pizza in the Cherokee Place Shopping Center in Cartersville.
