TWINSBURG — As Cooper Panteck stood among his family and friends and assorted other well-wishers after leading Gilmour’s football team to its first regional final berth in school history, he went out of his way to put matters into perspective. Despite a misting rain that fell for much of the game, Panteck completed 18 of 26 passes for 363 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Lancers to a 35-28 victory over Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy on Nov. 15 in a Division III, Region 9 regional semifinal at Twinsburg High School. Gilmour, which won its school record 12th game of the season, will face Youngstown Ursuline on Nov. 22 in the regional final at a site to be announced on Nov. 17 by the OHSAA. Ursuline scored 20 unanswered points to pull away from Aurora in the other semifinal, 29-10. “It feels great to be one of just eight teams left,” said Panteck. “It’s awesome. It’s school history going this far. It’s really something special. I think it’s in huge part because of coach (Tom) Kaufman and how he came in here and changed the culture of the program in just two short years. It’s awesome to witness.” It was a total team victory for the Lancers, as they piled up nearly 500 yards of offense without ever having to resort to a punt. At the same time, Gilmour’s defense came up big throughout the game, turning aside two attempted fourth-down conversions while holding CVCA to just 205 yards. “We have great defensive players, and we had to have that,” Kaufman said. “That had to happen. We had to do a great job against the run.” The defense also made the play that turned the game in Gilmour’s favor, recovering a fumble midway through the third period with the score tied at 21-21. It was unclear who recovered the fumble, as it happened amidst a pile of Gilmour defenders. Regardless, it only took the offense five plays to reach the end zone, as Panteck connected with Sean Dillard on a 22-yarder with 3:23 left in the third quarter to give the Lancers a 28-21 lead. “That was a big play, a really big play,” Kaufman said of the fumble recovery. “That’s our defense just making plays like they do all the time.” After the teams traded failed fourth-down conversion attempts, Gilmour’s Brody Lennon made two dominant plays, throwing CVCA quarterback Charley Levak for a 4-yard loss on a QB keeper, and then following that up with a 13-yard sack of Levak on third down. Lennon, an Ohio State recruit, also caught three passes for 60 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. “Brody was Brody today,” Kaufman said. “He’s tremendous. He’s such a great football player. Ohio State is getting a really good football player.” The Royals were forced to punt, with Gilmour taking over deep in its own territory on the 18-yard line with 7:25 to play. Things looked like they were getting worse for the Lancers, as running back Nathan Lennon (Brody’s cousin) was taken down for a loss of three yards on first down. However, on the very next play, the Lancers struck lightning, as Panteck found Lars Broberg all alone behind the CVCA defense for an 85-yard touchdown. “That was the game right there,” Kaufman said. “It was just a post to Lars. Cooper threw another dime like he’s been doing all year.” Panteck said he knew the play was going to work once he saw the coverage that was being employed by CVCA’s defense. “Lars is by far the fastest kid on the team,” said Panteck. “He runs a 10-something in track in the 100 meters. So, I knew as soon as we saw a one-high and it was man, he was going to burn him.” The touchdown gave the Lancers a 35-21 lead midway through the final quarter. CVCA responded with an impressive scoring drive with backup quarterback Alex Mammone filling in admirably when Levak was knocked out of the game. However, the Royals failed to recover the ensuing onside kick, allowing the Lancers to run out the clock with a series of runs by Aiden McNamara, who also played a big role on Gilmour’s defense. “We come into every game with the mindset that we’re going to do what we need to do to win,” said Panteck. “If that’s throwing, then we’ll pass the ball. Today it was a little bit of a mixture of both. We were just doing what we needed to do to win the game.” And make a little history along the way. The score Gilmour 35, CVCA 28