Dr. Phillips' high-flying offense leads Panthers football in 49-21 playoff win

With a balanced offensive attack, Dr. Phillips High football took care of business from the kick-off in the opening round of the FHSAA Class 7A playoffs at Bill Spoone Stadium against Tohopekaliga High, 49-21. 

"We started out really fast," said Panthers coach Rodney Wells. "We kicked off to them and our defense got a three-and-out on that first drive, then our offense came out and scored. That was a lot of momentum going our way. Anytime, regular season or playoffs that you can get a three-and-out and your offense gets the ball and scores to start the game, it's a good thing."

Photo courtesy of Tyler Silk, Dr. Phillips High Yearbook staff

DP offense keeps rolling

The high-flying DP attack — led by quarterback Stanley Anderson-Lofton (the 2024 Orange Observer Offensive Player of the Year) and the Panthers' trio of running backs; Zion Matthews, Amari Major, and Kenorris White — didn't stop the scoring train; the area's most potent offense kept rolling all night and pushed the game to a running clock by the third quarter.

"We just continued to score offensively, through the game," Wells said. "We had short fields and Stanley made some plays with his arms. I think he had three passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns ... he did a great job tonight. We had one turnover ... but other than that, it was clean on offense. We were able to make it a running clock by the third when we got it 49-14. ... Overall, I was very excited. Anytime you can score 49 points, that's a good night."

Dr. Phillips has averaged 33.64 points across its 11 games this season and has scored 40 points three times in its last four games — five times overall this season.

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Panthers need to clean up penalties

Despite the quality of the performance, Wells still saw some things his team could improve on — especially on his side of the ball, the defense. 

"With their passing attack and their tempo, it gave us some problems in the first half," Wells said. "We weren't getting lined up quick enough; the defense wasn't communicating. We had two, maybe three, penalties that gave them another 30 yards, which helped them score on that drive. ... We just had too many penalties on defense; we need to clean that up."

Next up

The Panthers, as the No. 2 seed in Region 3, will host the regional semifinal matchup against Jupiter High (10-1) — which shut out Treasure Coast High in its first-round game. Wells expects it to be a tough matchup. 

"It's gonna be unfamiliar territory," he said. "I saw a couple of things, some clips, and they look explosive. They look similar to Edgewater (High) on offense. ... They have a really good back, a couple of good receivers, and a quarterback who's mobile and accurate. The defense is sound. I mean, you can't be 10-1 and not be really good. They're a 10-1 team, and they just beat Treasure Coast 28-0, so it's going to be a really good, tough second-round match."

DP will host the Warriors at Bill Spoone Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22.