The Olympic Heights football team suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of the Dwyer Panthers, 48-0 on Friday, Sept. 30. After running their record to 4-0, with all four wins coming on the road, the Lions came home to Corey Lewis Stadium to face off against the 4-0 Panthers only to find themselves seriously out-manned in size and speed.

The Lions defense was able to keep the score respectable for much of the first half, forcing turnovers and stalling the Panthers offense. Dwyer held a 7-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter, but added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 20-0 lead into the half.

On the other side of the ball, the Lions could not generate much of an offense as the Dwyer front seven were able to shut down the OH running game and harass Lions’ quarterback Anthony Petillo throughout the first half. The Lions were able to threaten twice in the first half with passes of 25 and 35 yards into the end zone, but the first pass was intercepted and the second one dropped.

With Petillo on the bench as a result of a possible concussion, the Lions started the second half with Joey Poloskey at quarterback, but the offense was completely shut down by a stifling Panthers defense. The wear and tear of spending too much time on the field started to take its toll on the Lions defense as the Panthers seemingly moved the ball at will, posting 28 second half points to complete the rout.