The Panther defense held the Bulldogs to 120 total yards and Ryan Shipley had a hand in four touchdowns as CGHS won bragging rights with a 28-0 shutout.
Shipley’s first pass of the game was intercepted, but the defense held the Bulldogs to a three-and-out and the offense quickly got back on track.
“It’s a sign that we’re growing up, overcoming adversity,” said Panther coach Neal Pucciarelli. “That was a gamble, we wanted to show them that we wanted to pass it deep and (Erik) Stone made a great play.
“But I’m real proud of them. The kids showed a lot of character.”
Shipley finished 22-of-41 passing for 317 yards on a less than ideal night for throwing the ball. He threw two touchdwons passes and ran for two more scores, though he was picked off three times.
“Ryan, I thought he threw the ball extremely well and we did enough to keep them guessing so we were able to move the ball,” Pucciarelli said. “One constant thing was that our offensive line pretty much controlled the line of scrimmage and we were able to do some things.”
Shipley’s 3-yard run and Gustavo Barros’ kick made it 7-0.
Seth Sharp’s interception put an end to the next Bulldog drive and Byron Johnson hauled in an 11-yard TD pass from Shipley to extend the lead to 14-0 by the end of the first quarter.
Shipley would later hook up with running back Jeremy Jones on a 22-yard toucdown to make it 21-0.
The Panther nearly scored again before halftime. They were driving late in the second quarter, but Sean Frost was stopped at the one-yard line on the last play of the half.
Claiborne was limited as they played without their top offensive threat in David Fuson and they never got on track against the Panthers.
Hunter Hassler led the Cumberland Gap defense with nine tackles and three assists. Johnson helped set the tone with a big sack on Claiborne’s first possession.
“We got another great effort defensively and I feel bad for them because Fuson was out,” Pucciarelli said. “It’s a rivalry game and I know he was wanting to go. Jamie Richardson for us was also limited to just a few snaps because of a bad foot.”
Aaron Noe led the Bulldogs with 23 rushing yards on nine carries. While quarterback David Sweet was 6-of-18 passing for 74 yards. He was also intercepted three times, twice near the goal line by Panther senior Ryan Warren.
Erik Stone had two interceptions for Claiborne.
Cumberland Gap put the game away with a long drive to start the third quarter. Shipley’s 8-yard run completed the scoring as the Panthers went on to the 28-0 win.
Johnson led the Panthers with seven catches for 116 yards and six other receivers had at least two catches. Jones had 58 yards rushing and Frost added 56.
“We had some receivers step up. We didn’t have a lot of big plays out of Whitt Willis and Ryan (Warren), but we had others to step up,” said Pucciarelli.
Willis caught three passes for 53 yards and Warren hauled in three for 25.
Erik Stone had three catches for 50 yards to lead Claiborne and Clark DeBusk had two catches for 22 yards.
Cumberland Gap (2-3) hosts Hancock County next Friday while Cumberland Gap (3-2) entertains region foe Happy Valley for homecoming.
Photo: Cumberland Gap running back Sean Frost is met near the goal line by Claiborne’s Josh Roberts (28) and Michael Loggins. The Bulldogs stopped Frost from reaching the end zone on the last play of the first half, but had trouble containing their county rivals for most of the game as the Panthers won 28-0. (JAY COMPTON/Daily News)
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