THOMASTON &8212; The cool air and crisp breeze at last night&8217;s Homecoming battle between the Marengo High Panthers and the McIntosh High Demons set the scene for the game&8217;s slow start.

The Demons received the opening kickoff only to throw an interception on the second play of the drive. Marengo&8217;s Corey Noid was there to make the pick. After toggling back and forth, both teams came away scoreless in the first quarter of play.

Kaylos Pritchett put the first points on the board for the Panthers with 10:27 on the clock in the second period of play. The Panthers recovered their onside kick but soon lost it on downs. McIntosh took advantage of their field position and found the end-zone with 3:27 to play in the half. After a dead ball penalty against Marengo, the Demons conversion was good for two points. As the two teams entered the locker rooms, Marengo trailed by two.

As the game progressed, the Panthers added six points to the board with a 9-yard run from Pritchett. McIntosh answered with a 75-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed. After recovering the Demons&8217; onside kick on their own 45-yard line, the Panthers overcame two penalties totaling over 20 yards and made a fourth-down conversion to score once again, this time on a 44-yard run by Noid.

McIntosh&8217;s scoring drive was still not complete. On a 57-yard pass, the Demons quarterback connected with a receiver for the final touchdown of the game.

On the night, Marengo came away with only 298 yards of total offense, 144 of belonged to Noid who led the Panthers in rushing with 13 carries. Their defense, unlike the majority of the season, was simply over-played by McIntosh&8217;s persevering offense. Leading Marengo in tackles was Jeremy Bouler with 18 on the night, one of which was a sack. James Dumas led the Panthers in receiving yardage with three receptions for 46 yards.

According to McIntosh&8217;s Larry Boykin, &8220;It was a tough game. We came in here with the region already won&8230;we were down. But the boys put up a good fight. This has been the best season we&8217;ve had in nearly 15 years.&8221;

Last night&8217;s loss put Marengo at 4-4 on the season and 3-4 in the region.