The Georgiana Panthers came through for their first win of the season last night against Frisco City, but it was far from a pretty win.

“We were sloppy, but that’s on me,” said head coach Shane Smothers. “Kids are kids and they’re going to make mistakes, but they know what they did wrong.”

The Panthers jumped out to an early lead with a 41-yard pass from Kevin Brogden to LaJordan Crittenden.

It appeared that Crittenden was tackled and several players slacked off, but no whistle sounded and he broke free for the endzone.

Adones Peterson added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

On the first play of the Panthers’ second possession, Deven Cheatham raced up the middle for a 48-yard touchdown run and Peterson kicked the extra point.

A minute and a half after the start of the second quarter, Brogden connected with Lacory Savage for a 24-yard touchdown, and Peterson ran in the two-point conversion for a 22-0 lead.

The Panthers then got an interception from Tay Hamilton, and a long pass from Brogden to Victor Marshall set up a 14-yard touchdown run from Cheatham.

“Our goal was to come out, hit them in the mouth and play fast,” Smothers said. “We wanted to take their will to win. We did that, but then the attitude showed up. That’s just immaturity and lack of leadership.”

The first half was marked by large number of penalties that stretched the half into an hour-and-a-half-long affair.

By the end of the game, Georgiana tallied 13 penalties for 160 yards, while Frisco City had 21 penalties for 185 yards.

Georgiana had a defensive touchdown just before halftime, when Hamilton picked off another pass and ran it 30 yards for a touchdown.

In the third quarter, Cheatham broke a 32-yard run for a touchdown to make it 41-0.

The last score of the game for Georgiana came as the contest was winding down.

On fourth down and short, Rickey Everett cut an inside run to the outside and raced 45 yards for a touchdown.

Peterson added the extra point to make it 48-7.

The Whippets added another touchdown late in the game, and the final margin was 48-13.

“We executed well on offense, and we’ve got to be consistent,” Smothers said. “Our defense also played well, and so did our special teams.”

“It’s also good to be home and have a good crowd,” he added. “Whether you’re 3-0 or 0-3, we’ve got community support, and that means a lot to us.”