Schoper’s four touchdowns power Panthers

BRADENTON — They left school less than 20 minutes before kickoff.

“We pulled out of the parking lot at 4:12,” said Allan Gerber, Bradenton Christian’s football coach.

Led by a police escort that navigated their bus through the traffic building on Manatee Avenue, the Panthers pulled into the parking lot at Turner Fields with blaring sirens and a bus packed with pumped-up players.

“That gets your kids going — it really does,” Gerber said.

Thanks to a tireless tailback, the Panthers never really stopped, defeating rival Saint Stephen’s 28-8 Friday in each team’s Class 1B-District 6 opener that was delayed approximately 45 minutes because of lightning.

Following their entrance, BCS (4-0, 1-0) made just as much noise after kickoff when David Schopfer sprinted around the right end for a 62-yard scoring run on the game’s second play from scrimmage.

It was just the beginning for Schopfer, who added touchdown runs of 16, 1 and 1 yards, giving the senior running back his first four touchdown day. He finished with 28 carries for 184 yards, a standout performance for a player who had been part of a three-pronged rushing attack during BCS’ first three games.

“They just wanted to use the speed on the corner to wear out their team,” Schopfer said.

He and his teammates didn’t waste much time — Schopfer’s first score came 22 seconds into the game.

“We were pumped up,” Schopfer said, “so we just blocked perfectly on that play. It was just execution all around.”

Gerber said Schopfer is finally back to being himself after getting “dinged up” during BCS’ Kickoff Classic.

“I’ve referred to him in the past as lightning in the bottle for us,” Gerber said. “It’s taken him a bit to get his feet back underneath him, and I was really proud of his effort (Friday). Saint Stephen’s is a very well-coached team, and they came hard.”

The Falcons (2-2, 0-1), playing in their first district game since reintroducing football in 2006, got on the board with less than 42 seconds remaining in the game when Sam Mire pulled in a 10-yards pass from Michael Roberts.

It was the second touchdown scored this season against the Panthers, off to their best start in the program’s short history.

“I’m pleased with the effort with this group,” Gerber said. “There’s nothing like beating your rival and there’s nothing like beating a team in your district. So we had a good day (Friday).”