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The final score was a mirror image, and it was also a reflection of the difference in strength between Region 1 and Region 2 Class A District 10 football, as the south’s No. 3 Kennedy Catholic Golden Eagles cruised to a 41-14 victory over the north’s No. 2 Saegertown Panthers at Bender Field in Friday’s first-round playoff.

And it didn’t take long to put things into perspective.

Kennedy quarterback Ross Gargano took the opening kickoff to the Panther 25. Golden Eagle running back Lee Plotts capped the one-play, six-second drive with a quick scamper to make it 7-0 with 11:39 remaining.

Saegertown turned the ball over on downs with an incomplete pass on 4th-and-3 at the Kennedy 40-yard line, and Gargano scored on the Eagles’ second play from scrimmage with a 60-yard run on a quarterback draw.

Saegertown failed to score on its next drive, and Kennedy’s first offensive play which did not result in a touchdown was an incomplete pass from Gargano to Lee Shimshock in the flat.

Plotts carried the ball 70 yards to the end zone on the next play, but it was called back for offensive holding.

On 3rd-and-17, Gargano called his own number for 18 yards and a first down.

The drive ended with a Plotts 2-yard run, and following a blocked kick attempt by Cody McCray, the score stood at 20-0 with 2:27 on the board.

From there, the onslaught continued, with Saegertown registering just four first downs, and the Eagles tacking on 21 more points with two scores by Plotts and one by Gargano, before the Kennedy second string took the field in the fourth quarter.

In the final stanza, David Haskins found the end zone on a 45-yard punt return at the 3:47 mark, and lineman Sean Catalano scooped up a fumble and ran it in for a 25-yard score to make it 41-14.

Saegertown head coach Ken Achenbach felt little shame in losing to a team the caliber of Kennedy.

“That’s a solid football team,” he said. “They have everything a coach could possibly want — speed, size and strength. They are where we need to be.”