Pelham Panthers ride Vines to win
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 10, 2002
Pelham High School senior quarterback Chris Vines completed 19-of-29 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers defeated Hewitt-Trussville 17-14 last Friday night.
Vines got 216 of that as well as both scores in the first half.
The difference in the game was the first score of the game &045; a 42-yard field goal by Pelham’s Rob Warren.
Pelham added to a 3-0 lead with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Vines to sophomore Montez Billings.
Warren added the PAT to give the Panthers an early 10-0 lead.
Vines struck again when he connected with the speedster Billings on a 59-yard strike for his second score of the night.
Warren’s PAT gave the Panthers a 17-0 lead at the half.
Billings finished the game with seven catches for 119 yards.
Pelham would take that 17-0 lead into the fourth quarter before Hewitt-Trussville came to life late in the game.
Jason Steele came off the bench for the Huskies and completed touchdown passes of 27 and 40 yards, both to Michael McSweeney, to pull the Mustangs to within three points at 17-14.
Steele finished the night 5-of-9 for 115 yards &045; all in the final period of play.
Pelham needed a Ross Dickens interception with just over one-and-one-half minutes left in the game to hold on to the win.
&uot;We played great in the first half, but we definitely shot ourselves in the foot in the second half,&uot; Vines said.
&uot;It shouldn’t have been as close as it was.&uot;
Pelham finished the night with 318 yards of total offense with 236 of that coming in the first half of play.
Hewitt-Trussville finished the night with 274 total yards offense.
Next up for Pelham will be Hoover, a team which is ranked in the top 10 in the nation.
The game will be at Pelham. Kickoff is set for 7:3