Panasuk strong in home debut as Force wins
Stephen Panasuk made a positive first impression as the Wichita Force’s quarterback in his home debut Saturday night.
Panasuk, an indoor-football veteran in his first year in Wichita, passed for 175 yards and six touchdowns and ran in another himself in the Force’s 59-28 victory over Duke City (Albuquerque) at Intrust Bank Arena.
With successes like Saturday’s, Panasuk just might have found a home in Wichita.
“To get a victory is awesome for everyone in the organization and for everyone who comes out to watch us,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not going to be able to do that alone.”
He had help, all right. Receiver Clarence Anderson caught two of Panasuk’s scoring passes, had a 12-yard scoring run and made some key plays on special teams.
“Clarence had a big night,” Panasuk said. “He usually does. We expect it from him. But all my receivers had catches. Everybody had catches.
“It’s always a team effort. Even our defense got a couple of turnovers and got us the ball back.”
Four receivers hauled in touchdown passes from Panasuk. Ronald Davis matched Anderson with two scoring receptions.
As for Anderson, he rushed for 60 yards, including the 12-yard touchdown, and had 77 receiving yards, including scores of 5 and 29 yards. He said he has improved since Panasuk came on board.
“He’s a veteran in this indoor league, and I’ve learned a lot in the last three weeks that I’ve been with him,” Anderson said.
The Force’s effectiveness pleased coach Paco Martinez, who said the newcomers are blending in nicely.
“They’re finally getting some cohesion together,” he said. “Everybody’s getting on the same page.”
Martinez said he’s developing excellent chemistry with Panasuk in such a short time.
“He’s like a coach on the field,” Martinez said. “He just knows where I want him to throw and what kind of play we need to run.
“Stephen’s really stepping up, taking the lead in practice, and he’s becoming our guy. I think that’s pretty clear to see. His mechanics are great; he stands up in the pocket strong, he’s not scared to take a hit, and he did great tonight. He delivered the ball where he needed to.”
Duke City | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | — | 28 |
Wichita | 28 | 3 | 14 | 14 | — | 59 |
W – Benning 5 pass from Panasuk (Frazell kick)
W – Anderson 12 run (Frazell kick)
W – Soft 4 pass from Panasuk (Frazell kick)
W – Anderson 5 pass form Panasuk (Frazell kick)
W – Frazell 26 FG
DC – Clark 17 pass from Genuser (Barber kick)
DC – Johnson 9 pass from Genuser (Barber kick)
DC – Davis 45 pass from Genuser (Barber kick)
DC – Clark 27 pass from Genuser (Barber kick)
W – Panasuk 5 run (Frazell kick)
W – Anderson 29 pass from Panasuk (Frazell kick)
W – Davis 22 pass from Panasuk (Frazell kick)
W – Davis 8 pass from Panasuk (Frazell kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Duke City, De. Davis, 2-5, Brody 1-0, De. Davis 1-(-2). Wichita, Anderson 6-60, Benning 17-40, Panasuk 4-17, Taylor 2-6.
PASSING – Duke City, Genuser 18-43-2-212. Wichita, Panasuk 15-22-0-175, Taylor 1-2-0-10.
RECEIVING – Duke City, De. Davis 5-92, Clark 4-40, Johnson 4-29, Daniels 2-13, Genuser 1-24, Manly 1-8, Dw. Davis 1-6. Wichita, Anderson 6-77, Soft 5-54, Bell, 2-30, Love 2-19, Benning 1-5.
This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 11:09 PM with the headline "Panasuk strong in home debut as Force wins."