Dwyer Pounds Olympic Heights

    The Dwyer Panthers put up 34 unanswered points in the first half to easily defeat the Olympic Heights Lions 41-7 on Friday night in a District 13-7A game at Corey Lewis Stadium in Boca Raton. The Panthers remained undefeated at 5-0 and have now outscored their opponents 208-20 after five games this season. The Lions dropped to 1-3 as they now ride a three-game losing streak.
    It seemed that it would be a long night when Shawun Lurry returned a punt for a 75-yard touchdown at 7:57 of the first quarter, but it was negated by a block-in-the-back penalty. Panthers running back Alonso Smith advanced the drive to the Lions 33 on a run of 32 yards. Quarterback Daniel Parr threw a pass to slot receiver Ezra Saffold on a slant pattern up the middle for a 20-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead at 5:47.
    Dwyer kicked off and recovered a loose ball at the Olympic Heights 18-yard line. On a fourth down and 12, Smith caught a screen pass on the left side and scored from 20 yards away with 3:26 left in the first. Kicker Peyton Shapiro missed the extra point and the Panthers were up 13-0.
    Things went from bad to worse for Olympic Heights in the second quarter as they fumbled the ball away on a carry by running back Anthony Alejo in his own end. Dwyer capitalized on the first play of the drive as Smith pulled in a reception on the left sideline and raced down the field untouched for a score from 33 yards out at 10:08.
    Later in the second quarter, running back Gerald Hearns scored a three-yard touchdown run around the right end with 4:57 to go in the first half as the Panthers extended their lead to 27-0.
    The Lions turned the ball over again but this time on a bad handoff at their own 39-yard line. Two plays later, wide receiver Clint Stephens made a 12-yard touchdown catch on the left side of the end zone with 2:33 remaining in the second quarter and they increased the margin to 34-0.
    Late in the third quarter, Olympic Heights had their possession end on an interception by Lurry at the Panthers 2, he lateraled the ball to Stephens at the goal line and he fumbled the ball back to the Lions 26 yards later.
    Olympic Heights snapped the shutout at 11:06 of the fourth quarter as running back Richard Thompson streaked around the left end for a one-yard touchdown as the Lions closed the gap to 34-7.
    The Panthers struck quickly just 46 seconds later as wide receiver Johnnie Dixon brought in a 22-yard touchdown reception on the left sideline and they led 41-7.