Staff report
PALMYRA - Steve Smith rushed for 218 yards and five touchdowns to lead visiting Norton to a 38-21 Portage Trail Conference Metro Division win over Southeast on Friday.
Smith scored on runs of 11 and 32 yards in the first quarter as Norton (2-7, 2-4) took a 14-0 lead.
At the 10:34 mark of the second quarter, Smith found the end zone from 15 yards out to push the lead to 21-0.
Southeast (2-7, 2-4) finally got on the scoreboard when Anthony Pennington hit Taylor Simyak on a 5-yard TD pass with 5:17 left in the first half to cut the margin to 21-7.
But Norton added a field goal by Tim Scott with 12 seconds left in the half, giving the Panthers a 24-7 advantage at intermission.
On the last play of the third quarter, Gary Allen raced 4 yards into the end zone as Southeast got to within 24-13. But Norton struck right back as Smith bulled his way to paydirt from 1 yard out for a 31-13 lead.
Pennington broke loose on a 55-yard TD run with 7:59 left in the game, but Smith countered with his fifth touchdown on a 15-yard run with 2:27 remaining in the game.
The Panthers rolled up 382 yards rushing, while the Pirates had 239 yards on the ground. Allen led Southeast rushers with 129 yards on 13 carries.
Pennington was 12-of-23 passing for 112 yards, but threw four interceptions.