Avery Cooper scored on a pair of touchdown runs to lead the Paulding Panthers to a 24-14 win over rival Wayne Trace Friday night in high school football action at Keysor Field.
The victory pushes the Panthers to 4-0 overall on the season and 1-0 in the Green Meadows Conference while Wayne Trace falls to 0-1 in the league and 0-4 in all games.
Cooper scored on runs of 16 yards and eight yards in the first half to put the Panthers on top 14-0 before Wayne Trace cut the deficit in half.
Quarterback Jack Schoenauer connected with Zach Stoller on a six-yard scoring strike that pulled the Raiders within 14-7 at the midway point of the contest.
Paulding put the game away in the fourth quarter as Jalen Manz connected on a 27-yard field goal to extend the margin to 17-7.
The Panthers then extended the margin to 24-7 as Colten Hunt found Kane Jones for a 40-yard scoring strike to seal the victory.
Wayne Trace did add one more touchdown of its own when Schoenauer connected with Tyler Head on a 13-yard pass for a score to set the final margin of 24-14.
The maroon and white totaled 230 yards of offense in the contest, accumulating 131 through the air and 99 on the ground. Wayne Trace finished with 179 yards, picking up 119 in the passing game and sixty in the running game.
Cooper finished the night with 88 yards on 24 carries to lead the Panther offense while Hunt was 9 of 21 passing for 131 yards. Schoenauer completed 12 of 19 passes for 119 yards to lead Wayne Trace.
