Hawks rolling at the half

If you're among those truly interested in tonight's epic Plant-Armwood region title showdown, you're probably at the game, watching it live on Catch 47 or listening to it on the radio.

But if you're a blog-aholic seeking the perspective of someone at sideline level, here's a condensed first-half assessment:

When Plant's not shooting itself in the foot, Armwood's menacing defense is punching the Panthers in the proverbial smacker.

Thanks to a pair of Mywan Jackson touchdown runs, two Wes Skiffington field goals, a safety and two costly Plant turnovers, Armwood has taken a 22-0 lead with a couple of minutes to play in the first half. To this point Plant, averaging 468 yards a game, has 48.

But that's only the statistical layout.

Panthers quarterback Aaron Murray is 2-for-9 for 36 yards at this point and getting harassed by Armwood's simple four-man front much like he did in the teams' season-opening meeting.

Perhaps the tone-setting play of the game occurred on the third play, when Hawks linebacker Chris Green nailed 1,600-yard receiver Derek Winter on a short pass across the middle, popping the ball loose for an incompletion.

Winter has caught both of Murray's completions, but the Panthers senior hasn't been able to hold on to a pair of across-the-middle throws that were mildly off-target. Hearing footsteps, perhaps?

Jackson, by contrast, is well on his way to atoning for his Week 1 suspension from this game, reeling off TD runs of 42 and 38 yards on quarterback draws.