SPRINGFIELD -- After sputtering badly in the first half, the Effingham County Middle School Panthers shifted into high gear and zoomed past the Burke County Cubs in a playoff game Wednesday.

The Panthers, who found themselves in an 8-8 tie at halftime, advanced to next week's area middle school championship game with a 42-14 victory. 

Effingham County, plagued by penalties in the early going, looked like a different team in the third quarter. It tallied 22 unanswered points by ripping off huge chunks of yardage like it did while rolling up a 6-0 record during the regular season.

The Panthers didn't get on the scoreboard until Khiry Wallace made a tap-dancing catch of a short passs from Kameron Edge with 40 seconds left before intermission. Wallace managed to get a foot down while snagging the ball on the boundary just past the pylon.

The two-point conversion pass that tied the game took a fortuitous bounce for the Panthers, caroming off the hands of Wallace at the goal line and into the arms of Holden Sapp in the back of the end zone.

See the Nov. 1 edition of the Effingham Herald for more details.