BY MELANIE CRABTREE
Special to the Telegraph-Times-Monitor
The Keystone Heights Indians varsity football team was defeated by the Newberry Panthers 51-7 on Sept. 12.
Newberry running backs Jamarcus Wimberly and Kaleb Woods led the Panthers in scoring, with both players reaching the end zone three times.
Passes by quarterback Kobe Johnson to receivers Wimberly, Woods and Zaden Wilcox accounted for three TDs.
Newberry (1-3) racked up another touchdown with Hernando Garvin scoring by returning a punt.
The Panthers led 38-0 at halftime.
In the second half, the Indians (0-3) worked their way down the field, pushing quarterback Hunter Crumpton into the end zone for their sole touchdown, with kicker Ryder Thomas adding the extra point.
Newberry scored twice more, with kicker Kaiden Bush adding the PATs.
Keystone Head Coach Steve Reynolds said he appreciated the spark his team displayed by scoring in the second half.
He added that despite the score, he is seeing improvement.
“These boys come to work every day ready to get better,” Reynolds said.
The coach added that he was proud of the team’s second-half effort in the face of a discouraging score.
Crumpton led the offense with 56 rushing yards on 16 carries. Running back and receiver Cole Crabtree ran for 6 yards on five carries and had one reception for 3 yards.
Crabtree, playing cornerback, led the defense with five solo tackles, one assist and one pass deflection.
Pete Bostic, Luke Bacorn and Micha Screen had two solo tackles each. Bacorn, Logan Madden-Moore and Bostic each deflected one of Newberry’s field-goal attempts.
Keystone travels to play Dixie County on Friday, Sept. 19, at 7:30 p.m. The Bears (0-4) are coming off a 68-13 loss to Belleview.
