It took four years and a realignment of districts, but the Lenoir City Panthers captured their first district win since 2005 Friday night when they upended William Blount 12-7.  The Panthers were down early in the game, but roared to life in the fourth quarter to score 12 unanswered points.  One touchdown was an 18-yard fumble recovery by linebacker Jordan Willis and the other a five-yard touchdown by freshman quarterback Jordan Hall.

"I'm so proud of of these kids," Lenoir City Head Coach Mike Zeller said after the game.  "We have a lot of guys that have to play both ways.  All year long they've had to suck it up and go and tonight it paid off."

William Blount started the game off strong, as it took the opening kickoff down to the Panther 16 yard line.  On their first play the Govs had a bad snap but still managed to pick up one yard.  On the next play, Robbie Irwin picked up the first touchdown of the game from 15 yards out.  The point after was good and William Blount struck first with the score 7-0.

The Panthers took the ball from their own 16-yard line, but Cody Wright started things off well as he rumbled down the field to the Governors 28.  Hall kept the ball on the next play and picked up three yards.  He then found Jordan Pardue for the first down at the 16.  Wright was called on again, this time picking up three yards.  After two incomplete passes the Panthers attempted a 31-yard field goal, but Daniel Cook's attempt was just barely short.

Lenoir City's defense held tough, however, and were able to force William Blount to a three and out.
The Panthers were on the prowl again as they were able to put together a good offensive drive on the ensuing possession.  Wright once again got the carry and picked up five yards.  Hall then found Chris Johnson for a big first down to the Govs 32 yard line.  The freshman QB then found Preston Craig for another first down at the 20.  Tanner Wilson then got Lenoir City to the 11 yard line, but that was as far as they would as they turned the ball over on downs.

William Blount was once again held to a three and out by Lenoir City's defense to start the second quarter.
The Panthers started their second quarter drive at the Governors 41.  This drive didn't go well as Lenoir City lost seven yards before punting.

The defense held up once again, keeping the Govs out of the endzone.
The offense for the Panthers took over at their own 20.  Lenoir City gave William Blount a heavy dose of Wilson to begin the drive and then Matt Studwell picked up seven yards to midfield.  Hall was then flushed out of the pocket, but was still able to pick up the first down.  Hall then found Craig on a second and long, but then the Panthers threw two incomplete passes in the endzone to end the half.  
William Blount clung to its 7-0 lead as the teams headed to the locker room.

The third quarter was a trade out of possessions between both teams and it wasn't until the fourth quarter that the game got exciting.
The Panthers took the ball to start the fourth quarter, with a drive that started on their own three-yard line.  Lenoir City was able to drive 97 yards for the score. 

The drive started with two incomplete passes, but Wilson was able to pick up a first down on third.  Hall then found Wes D'Ooge for another Panther first down. 

From there, Lenoir City gave the Govs a heavy dose of Wilson picking up another set of downs.  Hall then found Craig for an eight-yard pick up and Wilson was called upon once again and picked up two more first downs, the last was down to the four-yard line.  On the next play, Hall kept the ball and rushed into the endzone from the five.  The point after was no good, as Cook's kick sailed wide left.  However, the Panthers had pulled to within one at 7-6.

William Blount took its first possession of the fourth and fumbled on the first play.  Lenoir City's Willis picked up the ball at the 18-yard line and rumbled to the endzone for the go-ahead touchdown.  The Panthers chose to go for two, but an excessive celebration penalty made the attempt tougher as it pushed the ball back to the 18.  Hall's pass was complete but it was a yard short of the endzone.  Despite the miss, the Panthers had stormed into the lead at 12-7.

The Govs got the ball back, but Lenoir City's defense had come to life as Willis sacked the quarterback for a four-yard loss.  Then Craig was able to cash in on sack of his own, forcing a punt.
The Panthers weren't able to put any more points on the board with their next possession and they gave the ball back to the Governors for one more possession.

It got kind of close in the closing minutes with William Blount picking up several first downs, but the Governors were charged with an intentional grounding call that resulted in a loss of down that gave the ball back to Lenoir City with 39 seconds to go on the 47 yard line.  The Panthers took a knee to run out the clock and picked up their second win of the season.

Lenoir City had 279 yards of total offense. Hall finished seven of 19 for 77 yards and Wright had six carries for 68 yards. 

The Panther defense held William Blount to 112 yards of total offense on the night.