McComb's defense holds off Van Buren

MCCOMB– It was a sloppy game on Friday, in more ways than one. McComb held on to defeat Van Buren 7-3 on Friday, in a game that saw 22 penalties, 14 punts, and seven turnovers. It was McComb's defense, however, that helped it secure an important Week 6 win. Every time it looked like the Black Knights may make a big play, it seemed that a Panther defender thwarted it. On a particular drive that started late in the third, two huge passes set Van Buren up within the 10-yard line. Yet again, the Panthers' defense stood its ground, forcing Van Buren to settle for a field goal. "Our defense stepped it up," McComb coach Kris Alge said. "We made plays and kept them out of the end zone. Held them to a field goal, and that was big.""I think our defense did a heck of a job," Alge continued. "Coach (Chris) Myers does a heck of a job for us. The seniors responded and stepped up tonight. They're a good football team."On offense for the Panthers, it was all on the ground. Due to the wet and windy conditions, throwing the ball was a challenge. That seemed fine for Brayden Shoop. Shoop rushed 28 times for the Panthers, accumulating 144 yards and driving in McComb's lone touchdown with 4:45 remaining in the first half. "We told Shoop, 'you gotta take charge,'" Alge said. "'You're a senior, you've gotta be that x-factor tonight.' He did a good job, especially there at the end, getting first-downs."Quarterback Grady Schroeder tallied 13 carries and 29 yards. Hayden Ebright carried seven times for 28 yards, while also notching an interception. Trace Bryan recovered a fumble for the Panthers. "The biggest thing for us was coming back from the loss," Alge said. McComb lost to BVC newcomer Ada 35-20 a week ago. "We weren't happy with the Ada game, we didn't play our best football. Ada's a good team, nothing against Ada. But we did not play McComb football. Tonight, the defense was there. McComb football always starts with defense, and being able to run the football. Defensively, we stepped up and played McComb football."Van Buren's offense struggled, but did get some legs under its passing game in the second half. Quarterback Grady Mason connected with Lucas Harrington for a 52-yard completion right at the end of the third quarter before finding Brody Scoles on a 44-yard throw several plays later. Mason ended the game with 125 passing yards, completing 6 of his 22 attempts while rushing for 17 yards. Josiah Chapin ran for 32 yards on nine carries. Harrington had two receptions for 70 yards, while Scoles had two catches for 41 total yards. Grady Miller kicked a field goal for the Black Knights' only points of the contest."Playing McComb tough is always good," Percer said. "But we came up short. Our kids are very disappointed in that. They played their butts off tonight, but it just didn't end up on the right side of the fence. This one's gonna sting.""We own it as a team," Percer added. "We know that moving forward, we need to do things to make sure we keep striving to reach our goals. Do what we set out to do at the beginning of the season. 3-3 going into next week, we've just gotta be ready to rock and roll."With a 3-3 overall record and a 2-3 BVC record, Van Buren will head to Arcadia on Friday to take on the Redskins.McComb will look to use overcoming the playing conditions of tonight's game to build momentum as they begin the latter half of their season as a 4-2 team. The Panthers are set to take on Leipsic on the road on Friday."That's big," Alge said. "Fourth quarter, game on the line. We got some stops when we needed to get some stops, and some first downs. That's huge going forward to fill our football team with confidence. Our football team just needs confidence. When we play with that confidence, we're gonna be a good football team."McComb 0 7 0 0–7Van Buren 0 0 0 3–3Second QuarterMCC - 12 Shoop Run (Kern Kick)Fourth QuarterVB - G. Miller FG