It had been 38 years since the Panthers had tasted victory over Sylvania. And Friday night, Collinsville had to work to pull out a two-point victory, 28-26.
Collinsville Mason McAteer put the Panthers on the board first at the 8:59 mark of the first quarter with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Sam Stewart.
McAteer and Stewart connected again less than two minutes later after a Ram turnover to extend the lead to 14-0 with 6:31 left in the first quarter.
Sylvania found the end zone when Seth Ledford scored from 19 yards out with 3:03 to go in the first.
In the second quarter, McAteer found Gavin Lang for his third touchdown of the night. This one was 5 yards out to extend the Panther lead to 21-6.
With 1:17 left in the half, Sylvania recovered a Collinsville fumble and returned it for a Ram touchdown to make the score 21-13 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Sylvania’s Sammy Anderson scored on a 28-yard run to cut the Rams to within 2 points, as the 2-point conversion was no good.
In the final quarter, Collinsville’s McAteer picked up his fourth touchdown as he found Sam Stewart for the third time from 16 yards out to extend the lead to 28-19 with 9:29 to go in the game.
Sylvania mounted a late change with a 74-yard touchdown run from Travis Owens to get the Rams to within two again at 28-26 with 6:53 left in the game.
Collinsville held on for a two-point win, the first since 1987, over Sylvania.
McAteer finished 16-23 for 263 yards and 4 touchdowns. McAteer also had 19 carries for 102 yards rushing.
Noah Johnson finished with five catches for 122 yards, and Sam Stewart finished with three catches for 34 yards and three touchdowns. Gavin Lang had four catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.
Collinsville improves to 5-2 (3-2) on the season as Sylvania falls to 1-6 (1-4) on the season.