The Cumberland Gap Panthers opened the 2009 in impressive fashion Friday night with a 34-6 dismantling of Union County.

Coach Neal Pucciarelli said he was especially proud of how the team came together after dealing with several injuries during the pre-season.

“I was so proud of the kids because they hung in there, they keep believing, they keep working hard, they keep thinking they can get better,” he said. “We left some points out there on the field but execution wise offensively and defensively we did a very good job and this was the best our coverage teams have looked since I’ve been the coach.”

Senior quarterback Ryan Shipley threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns to Seth Sharp and also ran for 99 yards and two scores to lead the way.

Jeremy Jones added 78 rushing yards and a touchdown to go along with six catches for 60 yards.

“We had so many kids step up. Ryan played great, Jonesy played great,” Pucciarelli said. “I thought Patrick (Francisco) and Peach (David Cornelius) and the rest of the offensive line did a really solid job. We had some younger players step in when they had to and contribute — it was a great overall team win.”

The Panthers wasted little time in taking the lead. After the opening kick they took possession at the 36. A roughing the passer penalty put them in Patriot territory. Senior running back Jeremy Jones broke a 13-yard run and on play later Shipley hooked up with Sharp for a 31-yard touchdown.

Joseph Jenkins extra point put the Panthers up 7-0.

Sharp recovered a fumble on Union’s first drive and Cumberland Gap took over at the 18. Shipley passed to Jones for 13 yards and one play later Jones scored on a two-yard run to make it 14-0.

Cumberland Gap forced a 3-and-out and went on a 7-play drive that was capped by Shipley’s 18-yard touchdown run to stretch the lead to 21-0.

The score remained 21-0 until late in the third quarter when Shipley scored again, this time from five yards out. That TD was set up by a pair Jones runs, an 18-yard catch by Trey Treece and a pair of short catches from Austin Oney.

The Panthers started the fourth quarter with another long drive. Jones had the big play with a big gainer on a screen pass and Shipley found Sharp in the end zone from eight yards out. A bad snap on the extra point led to a throw away and Cumberland Gap was up 34-0.

Sharp finished with six catches for a team-high 63 yards and the two touchdowns. Puciarelli said he was pleased with how the entire receiving corps performed in the opener.

“I though Seth had a real good game, Austin Oney played the best game he’s played since our scrimmages started. Trey Treece started slowly but came on in the second half,” he said. “The rest of them when they needed to played real well. That was the best we came off the ball and gotten into routes.”

Union got their only score of the game on their first play from scrimmage agains the Panther second team defense. Michael Hickman got free along the right sideline and went 85 yards for a touchdown. The extra point try went straight into the line so the score stood at 34-6 with just over seven minutes to play and that proved to be the final.

“Defensively we played real solid, the only score we gave up was with the second teamers in there,” Pucciarelli said. “(Freshman) Blake Franklin and (sophomore) Dylan Werme both had to step in and play some corner for us and did a real good job. Shipley and Jones are always strong in the middle. Everybody just did a real good job.”

Treece led the Panthers with eight tackles and two assistts while Oney added six and two and recovered a fumble. Damien Kitts had an interception, Joseph Deguilian had a fumble recovery and Daniel Pace added a sack.

Cumberland Gap (1-0) will open district play next Friday at South Greene.

“It’s going to be a real stiff test for us,” Pucciarelli said. “I think we may be a little stronger up front than they are but they have some real good speed, so it’s going to be an interesting test. I’m excited about it and we’re going to do our best to be 1-0 in the district after next week.