The Panthers entered Friday’s game with the Mt Pleasant Tigers with an opportunity to advance to the quarterfinals. Friday night was the Panthers’ 14th straight year & their 20th appearance. When the dust settled, the Panthers secured an 18-13 win behind the excellent rushing night from junior Desmond Thomas. Thomas carried the ball 48 times for 262-yards and 1 touchdown. Riverside added a 70-yard TD pass from Ethan Quinn to Aiden Creasey to go up 18-13 in the 4th.
Mt Pleasant battled all night trying to establish a drive, but the stingy Panther defense made stop after stop keeping the game close. In the 1st quarter Darien Meza scored on a pass from Nick Brown from 44 yards out. Tigers up after 1, 7-6.
The Tigers were unable to score in the 2nd frame and the half ended with Riverside up 12-7.
Tiger QB Nick Brown rushed for a 1yard TD early in the 3rd quarter and they led 13-12. Creasey’s score in the 4th was the game winner for Riverside.
The Tigers end their season with a great record of 9-2. Decatur County-Riverside 10-2 will have a rematch with 11-1 Lewis County, a 35-7 winner over Adamsville.