STONE, PATTERSON AND YANCEY A DEADLY TRIO FOR SWEET HOME

“There’s nothing you can do against speed. Speed kills.” – John Madden

That’s an old adage in football but one that rings true, even today. No matter what position one plays in the sport, having the ability to take the top off a defense needs to be respected – otherwise, it’s a touchdown waiting to happen.

The Sweet Home Panthers have this ability in spades. In fact it’s been one of the team’s calling cards for the better part of the last 20 years, as numerous athletes have passed through the football program with the ability to leave defenders in the dust and did that while helping the program reach Highmark Stadium 11 times in a 13-year span – including 10 seasons in a row from 2005 to ‘14 (and claiming the Section Class A title eight times).

That tradition now is being upheld in the form of Panthers running back Daquan Stone and wide receivers Niear Patterson and Damari Yancey. The trio, who have helped lead the Panthers to their first Class A title in 10 years, have been deadly on the field.

The combination of Patterson, Yancey and Stone – who have each been timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.38, 4.4 and 4.7 seconds respectively – is a dangerous mix to try and stop, according to Panthers coach Jeremy Zimmer.

“Our kids can break one at any time – Patterson does that quite a few times and Yancey and Stone run hard,” Zimmer said following their win over McKinley to win the Class A championship. “We're very versatile – if they're going take to take away one thing from us, we’ve got something else to attack them with.

“(McKinley) was taking away some things in our passing game but the running game was open, especially when they decided to take their two outside linebackers and walk them up on the line and rush from the outside. The middle of the field was wide open, and when they did that to us it was Daquan all day. He runs like an angry grown man and he’s been dealing with a high ankle sprain all year, but he’s a tough kid to bring down and an outstanding running back.”

Stone, 6’1” and 225 pounds, took advantage by rushing for 137 yards on just 15 carries against the Macks. He’s also compiled nearly 800 yards along with 15 touchdowns this season, while Patterson has burned teams with almost 1,000 yards on just 35 catches and 15 touchdowns. Yancey has paced his squad in receptions to go with nine scores of his own.

Nowhere was the lethality of Patterson and Yancey more evident than in their semifinal win over Clarence. Yancey, a transfer from Canisius, had nine catches for 144 yards and found the end zone once while Patterson, who was also the Section VI 100-meter dash champion in track and field a year ago, caught four balls for 202 yards and three scores.

“Their speed opens everything up,” Zimmer said. “When they want to try and flex guys out and cover our receivers a little bit more, our line opens up holes for Daquan.

“He's been so patient this last month or so because our receivers have been open and we’ve been going more to our receivers this year.  But I love it. Our receivers are so unselfish and they’re happy for him. Whatever teams are going to give us, we're going to take it and we’re good enough to do it.”

The best thing about the three of them, according to Stone, is they understand while Zimmer, his staff and record-setting quarterback Rocco Panepinto depend on them playing well to win games, none of them can do it alone.

“We’re the captains of this team and we push everybody to be great,” Stone said. “Even though some people might look at us like we’re the main guys to shut down, we still push everybody to the limit because everybody has to contribute. Everybody’s got to work hard to win games, because it's not just all on us. It’s a team game.

“For us to get where we want to go, we’ve just got to keep working hard, keep being in the weight room three times a week and execute in practice and in the film room. We’re dialed in because we want to win really bad. We see the (sectional and state championship) rings next to our cafeteria all the time and we’re like, ‘Oh yeah, we need one too.’”