McSweeney's fireworks lead West Park over Destiny Chr.

West Park ended its Homecoming halftime show with a fireworks display that wasn't bad, but it wasn't close to the fireworks that Tanner McSweeney had in store for the fans in the second half. McSweeney scored two second half touchdowns, one on an 80-yard punt return and another on a 95-yard interception return that capped a 38-20 win for West Park over Destiny Christian. The win evened the Panthers record at 3-3 overall, as the team improved to 2-0 in the Metro League. "It feels great to score two touchdowns and to do it for my team," McSweeney said. "We got a great homecoming win. "On the punt return, it was a close game. They kicked it to me around the 20-yard line and I had to make a few guys miss. My teammates gave me great blocks down the sideline and I was able to take it all the way. "On the interception, I was sitting in my zone and I saw a guy go out and I made a play on the ball and took it to the house." West Park led at halftime 10-7, thanks to a 22-yard field goal from Luke Prestedge kicked as time ran out in the first half. The Panthers defense held Destiny Christian to a punt that McSweeney returned for a score, the only score of the third quarter, that had the Panthers in front 17-7. A one-yard run by Jaden Jackson early in the fourth quarter put the Panthers up 24-7 and essentially the competitive part of the game was over, yet there were four more scores put on the board in the game's final five minutes. Destiny Christian scored to make it a 24-14 games, but Declan Shindelbower scored on a 45-yard run followed by the interception return from McSweeney which put West Park in front 38-14, before Destiny Christian scored one last time. Shindelbower opened the scoring with a three-yard run in the first quarter to put West Park in front 7-0. He finished with 100 yards rushing on 11 carries. Jackson completed 9-of-14 passes for 116 yards. Abe Hunter led the team with three catches for 47 yards. "I'm super proud of the kids," West Park coach Jason Tenner said. "We put a lot on their plate mentally this week and they responded. The defense played great. We were able to run the ball early and our pass protection was good. "We lost three games by one score and learned some lessons that will help us throughout league play and hopefully beyond." McSweeney added, "A lot of games early in the season were close and we fell short in a lot of them, but now to get back even at 3-3 and get in the win column this week, we're off to a great start in league and we're looking to keep that going."