The Parkway Panthers made quick work of the Farmerville Farmers Friday night at Preston Crowniver Stadium.
The Panthers scored five touchdowns in the first half and completely shut down the Farmerville offense in a 41-7 victory.
Parkway improved to 2-0 overall, while Farmerville dropped to 0-2.
The game was a far cry from last year’s game in which the Farmers hung with the Panthers for three quarters before Parkway pulled away for a 40-20 victory.
The Panthers drove 65 yards for a touchdown on their opening possession. Brandon Harris kept the drive alive with a fourth-down completion to Malcolm Collins.
Parkway’s stout defense gave the offense great field position throughout the first half. Except for the first one, Parkway started all its drives inside Farmerville territory.
An ill-advised fake punt by Farmerville deep in its own territory set up Parkway’s second touchdown, a 16-yard run by Brian McGuffee.
When Harris hit Brandon Smalley with a short pass that Smalley turned into a 49-yard touchdown, the rout was on.
Farmerville got one first down in the first half and didn't cross the 50 until the final two minutes of the half. The Farmers scored a defensive touchdown against Parkway subs in the fourth quarter.
Parkway coach David Feaster was a bit disappointed his offense didn’t convert a couple of opportunities in the first half, but he could hardly find fault with the defense.
“We’ve got some big-play people. We’ve got some people who can run it and throw it, but we’re still kind of hot and cold,” Feaster said. “We’re still missing some stuff on offense. But our defense is playing so strong it doesn’t really matter. If we just score once in awhile we're going to be in good shape. That’s a great thing.”
Harris passed for more than 200 yards for the second straight game, completing 13 of 20 for 208 yards and four touchdowns. He went to the bench midway through the third quarter along with most of the other Parkway first-teamers.
Brodrick Jefferson caught two touchdown passes covering 17 and 13 yards. Corey Hamilton caught a 5-yard touchdown pass.
Demetrius McAtee led the Panthers with 48 yards rushing and scored the game’s first touchdown on an 8-yard run. Avery Shoebridge made five of six conversion attempts.
Antonio McGhee led the defense with four solo tackles and four assists. He also had two sacks. Marcus Harper and Holland Wolf were in on seven tackles each. Austin Averitt was in on six.
