By Bill Mitchell,

Special Writer

PELION –  If the end is a as good as the beginning, it will be a banner year at Pelion.

The Panthers opened with a 20-6 victory over Wagener-Salley in Week 0 and while it wasn’t perfect, coach Ben Freeman will take it all the way to the bank.

“As with any opening game, there are things that didn’t go as planned,  but it was a satisfying first step,” Freeman said.  “There’s much to be done and a lot of progress to be made, but was a good opening game, especially coming in Week 0 where you get a week’s less practice.”

The Panthers returned a solid core of five starters on offense, led by junior running Jamal Pontoon who rushed for 1,600 yards at six yard per carry and score 187 touchdowns   

 He got off to a good start with 91 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown in only slightly more than a half.

“Jamal began to cramp up some in the second half,” Freeman said. “I didn’t play him but part of the third period. It was a fine start for him.”

Corey Engle is a veteran wide receiver and three linemen, Chris Jones, Tyree Gainey and Adam Spears offer a fine nucleus up front.

“All of them played very well,” Freeman said. “They are the key for us on offense. How they progress and improve will have a huge bearing on our season.

Another element that will play heavily in the Panthers future is the continued fine play of rookie quarterback Jacob Huggins who completed eight of nine passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns in his first start.

“He really had an outstanding opening game,” Freeman said. “Jacob more than fulfilled my expectations for him at this point.

 Other new offensive starters are fullback Jonathan Kincaid, receivers Kyle Rogers and Solar Mahan and linemen Michael Babb and Rutland Mahter.

Freeman was very pleased with his defense that did not allow an offensive touchdown. A fumbled recovered by Wagener-Salley produced the losers’ only score.

Four offensive starters, Gainey and Jones in the line along with Kincaid and Mahan at  linebacker, are solid. A critical defensive stalwart is Donald Martin who recorded 12 tackles against Wagener-Salley.

“Donald was our leading tackler last year as well,” Freeman said. “We expect him to be a defensive leader along with Gainey who had 10 tackles. We were very happy with our defense.”

Josh Burleigh was defensive starter at safety last year, but has moved to linebacker. Tikwon Williams who started at cornerback most of last year, anchors the secondary.

“”We’re pleased with our first steps, but we need to continue to move ahead, to improve,” Freeman said.