By MAURICE SINGLETON/Sports Writer

KILN – Freshman quarterback Jason Glaude threw for three touchdowns and rushed for another to lead the Pascagoula Panthers (6-2, 2-1, district) to a 42-27 win over the Hancock Hawks (2-6, 1-2, district) on Friday.

Glaude completed fifteen of 22 passes for 284 yards, including touchdown tosses of 60, 53, and 59 yards. The 59-yarder followed a personal foul against the Panthers as they faced 25 yards for a first down. It gave the Panthers a 35-17 lead midway through the third quarter.

“Jason did a heck of a job stepping in for Silas,” said Panthers’ coach Lewis Sims. “Our whole team rallied around Jason. He really did a heck of a job. This was the first game for him to start. For him to come and to be able to do what he did tonight is a testament to Coach (Larry) Sisson and our offensive coaches.

The Hawks trailed 35-17 at the end of the third quarter, and it appeared that the Hawks were done. But Hancock got back in it on a 79-yard drive, capped by runs by their junior signal caller, Kaison Koenenn of 25 and 20 yards, the latter for the touchdown. The Hawks trailed 35-24 with four minutes remaining in the game.

The Hawks defense then held the Panthers to three snaps and a punt attempt. But the snap was mishandled by the Panthers and Hancock fielded the ball at the Panthers’ 16 yardline with just over three minutes remaining on the game clock.

The Hawks failed to pick up a first down, and were backed up 8 yards on third down. Sam Powell came in and kicked a 32-yard field goal on fourth down to close out the scoring for the Hawks with 2:00 minutes showing on the game clock.

The Hawks would attempt an onside kick, but the Panthers recovered it and returned it to the Hawks 27-yard line. From there junior running back Amarie Jackson would end all hopes of a Hancock comeback as he carried from 27 yards out on second down to close out the scoring.

“Credit Hancock and Coach Lollar and his staff, Coach Hopgood, they all do a great job,” Sims added. “We knew it was going to be a fourth quarter game. They came out in the fourth quarter and took advantage of some mistakes that we made. Fourth quarter we kind of found some traction and got going.”

The Panthers got on the scoreboard first on their third possession of the night. They would go 58 yards on six snaps with Jackson carrying from 5 yards out for the game’s opening score.

They would also score on the next possession, going 60 yards on seven snaps. Gaude would complete a 16-yard pass to the one yardline, and he would score on a keeper to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead with just under ten minutes remaining in the second quarter.

The Hawks would get on the scoreboard on their ensuing possession, going 48 yards with Keonnen carrying from 19 yards out for the score.

Powell kicked a 27-yard field goal for the Hawks on their next possession, and trailed 21-10 with just under three minutes remaining before halftime.

The Hawks were successful on an onside kick, and had great field position at the Panthers’ 47 yardline. Koennen had a 16-yard keeper and a personal foul against Pascagoula gave them excellent field position at the Panthers’ 16 yardline.

Alexander Vincent closed out the first half scoring with a 16-yard scoring carry, and the Hawks trailed the Panthrs 21-17 going into halftime.

“Our kids fought their butt off,” said Hancock coach Neil Lollar. “I can’t say enough about what they’ve done this year. They just keep on and keep on and keep on. I told them it’s going to pay off for them. We’ve got a big one next week, and we understand that we’ve got to do our part starting on Monday.”

Hancock will play at Long Beach next Friday. Pascagoula hosts West Harrison next Friday.