Stockbridge High School

LESLIE — The Stockbridge JV football team showed plenty of toughness, resilience, and big-play ability Thursday night, battling back from an early deficit before falling just short to Leslie, 18-14. The Panthers found themselves trailing 18-0 during the second quarter, but rather than allowing the game to get away, Stockbridge responded with 14 unanswered points and kept Leslie off the scoreboard for the entire second half. The Panthers finished with 184 yards of offense compared with Leslie's 156, including a decisive 97-38 advantage through the air. The comeback began with one of the biggest plays of the night. Tommy Bills provided the spark Stockbridge needed when he took a kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. Quarterback Cody Asquith then connected with Remington Christie for the two-point conversion, cutting the Leslie advantage to 18-8. From there, the Panther defense took control. Stockbridge shut Leslie out in both the third and fourth quarters, giving the offense an opportunity to work its way back into the game. The comeback reached another level in the fourth when Asquith found Vince Rogozinski for a 64-yard touchdown, pulling Stockbridge within four at 18-14. Asquith turned in a strong all-around performance while directing the Panther offense. He completed 8 of 17 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown while also leading Stockbridge on the ground with 75 yards on 18 carries, including a 37-yard run. He accounted for 172 yards of total offense and also threw the successful two-point conversion. Rogozinski supplied Stockbridge's biggest offensive play with his 64-yard touchdown reception, while Beau Kunzelman gave the Panthers a dependable option underneath, catching five passes for 20 yards. J. Crow added two receptions for 13 yards. Bills contributed seven rushing yards in addition to his game-changing kickoff return. The Panthers also received contributions from throughout the lineup defensively. Remington Christie recorded four tackles, two assists and a tackle for loss. T. Trapp was active throughout the game with three tackles, five assists and a tackle for loss, while D. Conant finished with three tackles and an assist. C. Elliott contributed two tackles and two assists. The Stockbridge defensive front also produced some impact plays. N. Glenn recorded a sack and a tackle for loss, while J. Larie added another tackle for loss. Rogozinski, Bills, G. Allard and H. Kunzelman were among the other Panthers credited with tackles. Several additional Panthers helped swarm to the football, including B. Baumgras with three assists, while B. Romero, B. White, J. Lester and N. Heemstra each contributed two assists. Kunzelman also came up with an interception, giving Stockbridge one of its biggest defensive takeaways of the night. Special teams were another bright spot. In addition to Bills' 83-yard touchdown, Kunzelman returned a kickoff 12 yards and Christie added a five-yard return. Bills' return was Stockbridge's first touchdown of the season and helped completely change the momentum of the contest. While the final score favored Leslie, the statistics demonstrated just how competitive the Panthers were. Stockbridge ran 49 offensive plays to Leslie's 42 and outgained the Blackhawks 184-156. After surrendering 18 points early, the Panthers' defense pitched a shutout for the remainder of the game while the offense and special teams steadily worked Stockbridge back into contention. For a young JV football team, the most encouraging part of Thursday night's performance may have been the response to adversity. Down three scores, Stockbridge could have folded. Instead, the Panthers answered with an explosive special-teams touchdown, tightened up defensively, created a turnover and struck for another long touchdown in the fourth quarter. The result was an 18-14 game that came down to the finish — and a Panther team that showed it has plenty to build on moving forward. Stockbridge JV falls to Leslie, 18-14, but the Panthers leave Week 1 having already demonstrated toughness, explosive-play potential and the willingness to keep fighting when things don't go their way.