Bradenton Christian hopped on the back of sophomore Zach Cooper as the Panthers beat Out of Door Academy, 13-7, in both teams' opener Friday night.

Cooper rushed for 159 yards on 27 carries, and one touchdown.

"It was tough, we needed a team effort tonight to get the win and we got that," Cooper said.

The 5'8" tailback overcame two early fumbles and was able to help pound the rock and control the tempo in the second half.

"I'm just glad coach believes in me after I make mistakes, it's important that we have that kind of relationship," Cooper said.

The quarterback tandem of senior Dusty Peebles and freshman Brett Gerber struggled for the Panthers, passing for just 62 yards on five completions.

"We have to do a better job of getting those guys going so we have a balanced offense," Panthers head coach Allan Gerber said.

Both teams had trouble producing points in the opening quarter, admitting jitters played a factor.

"We are a young team with a lot of maturing to do," Thunder head coach Brett Timmons said.

Freshman quarterback Gus Mahler passed for 222 yards and a touchdown showing glimpses of how good he can be.

"He is a very accurate quarterback with a high IQ, he's going to be good," coach Timmons said.

Peebles was able to scramble for an eight yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper, giving the Panthers a 6-0 lead in the second quarter, but the 2-point conversion pass fell incomplete.

Coming out of halftime, coach Timmons noticed the Panthers giving up some space on the kick off, so he elected for an onside kick.

"My coaching staff and I saw an opportunity and we took it, luckily it paid off," Timmons said.

The Thunder retrieved the onside kick, and on the following play scored on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Mahler to Austin Hoppe.

"That's coaching, I fell asleep and they capitalized," coach Gerber said.

After an interception by Anthony Calhoun, a Cooper 42-yard touchdown run gave the Panthers a 13-7 lead.

The Thunder had multiple chances to score in the fourth quarter, but three penalties in the final three minutes proved to be too much to overcome.

 

STATS:

Scoring drives:
BC Dusty Peebles 8-yard TOUCHDOWN run, 11:54 2QT (2-pt conversion pass no-good)
ODA 35-yard TD catch Hoppe from Mahler 11:53 3QT
BC Cooper 42-yard TOUCHDOWN run (Peebles KG) 1:36 3QT


Bradenton Christian Panthers
PASSING:
Dusty Peebles 3-9 53 yards
Brett Gerber 2-4 9 yards

Total: 5-13, 62-yards 0 TD 0 INT

RUSHING:
Zach Cooper 27 carries-159 yards 1TD 2 Fumbles
Dusty Peebles 5 carries-24 yards 1 TD
Brett Gerber 3- (-19) yards

Total: 35 carries 164 yards 2 TD 2 Fumbles

RECEIVING:
Junior Velazquez 1-20-yards
Zach Cooper 2-12 yards
Dusty Peebles 1-5 yards
Gerber 1- 15-yards

Total: 5 catches 62 yards 0 TD

Out of Door Academy Thunder
PASSING:
Gus Mahler 13-37, 222 yards 1TD 1INT

RUSHING:
Jason Fineberg 10 carries 20 yards
Austin Hoppe 5 carries 3 yards

Total: 15 carries 23 yards

RECEIVING:
Trent Radigan 2-27 yards
Kolbie Ward 1-15 yards
Austin Hoppe 10-182 yards 1TD

Total: 13-222 yards 1TD