Glen Rock — The Glen Rock Panthers proved all doubters wrong with a dominating 28-6 win over the first place Hawthorne Bears on Friday, Oct. 23.

The Panthers had a horrendous first quarter and Coach Kurz said it was the worst quarter they could have possibly played, yet they were only down by a score of 6-0. After hearing this, the Panthers turned it around, and did not look back.

Senior quarterback Ty Scherer took the game over late in the first half with a seven-yard rushing touchdown, and followed suit with a perfect 35 yard pass to the end zone where junior Michael McCarthy leapt up and came down with the touchdown.

Just two plays before the McCarthy touchdown, the Panthers executed an outstanding fake punt play where McCarthy delivered a strike to sophomore Luke Famularo for 20 yards setting the Panthers up at the Bears 25-yard line. 

Nico Hernandez-Torre tacked on both extra points to give the Panthers a 14-6 lead heading into the half.

The second half was more of the same for the Panthers, Scherer added his second touchdown on the ground with an electric 11-yard run breaking a few tackles, and then slipping his way into the endzone. This touchdown was set up by a 57-yard catch and run by sophomore Aiden Burkhardt. 

The Panthers defense continued to be the teams biggest asset holding Hawthorne’s Jayden Shwed to just a mere 43 yards rushing, and quarterback Ashton Navarrete to 128 yards and 2 interceptions, which were both caught by Scherer as well as a fumble recovered by Famularo.

Junior Andrew Sara capped off the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run following Navarrete’s fumble which was forced by junior Nolan Clark.

“We knew it was a big game, and we had to get the win,” Scherer says,“The team played well, we had a good team win.”

Scherer was nominated for the North Jersey player of the week finishing with 47 yards on the ground for two touchdowns, and 140 yards through the air and one touchdown (link to vote attached). 

Fellow captain Ryan Burstiner says, “Hawthorne said they were the best defense in the league, but I think we proved otherwise today, and just played an all around great game tonight.”

Senior captain Tommy Callahan added, “It was a great win, we haven’t beat Hawthorne since 2015, and it was just a great win for us. We are gonna keep working, pounding the ball, and doing everything to win, every week for the rest of the year.”

The Panthers, sitting at 3-1 and tied atop the NJIC Liberty division, have their next game scheduled for this weekend against an unknown opponent.