APEX — The homecoming queen wasn’t the only person recognized at Friday night’s homecoming showdown between Apex and Panther Creek High. Apex coach Bob Wolfe also received recognition for being selected to help coach the North team in this year’s Shrine Bowl.

After blowing out Panther Creek 42-7 Friday night, Wolfe had his team playing like they believe their coach deserved the honor.

“I’m really proud of our players,” Wolfe said. “We’ve kind of struggled on and off a little bit the last few weeks. And for us to put the game together and really end up this way and score some points and also hold them was good. We needed something like that after the struggles we’d been through.”

The Cougars (4-4, 2-2) wasted little time putting together a scoring drive, as quarterback Houston Hawley found Brandon Carr for a 6-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter.

Apex got its running game going in the second quarter, as Hawley scored on a quarterback keeper and running back Kevin Fogg broke out for a 22-yard touchdown run with less six minutes remaining in the half.

Fogg said the passing game, led by Hawley, opened up the running game and made it nearly impossible for Panther Creek to defend.

“I was just seeing all of the holes that the linemen and receivers were opening up for me,” Fogg said. “We really use our passing game to open up the run, but basically it balanced.”

Fogg opened the second half with a 20-yard touchdown run for Apex with less than eight minutes left in the third, and the Cougars never looked back.

Hawley later found Jamie Zieglmeier in the end zone from 10 yards out, and running back Zach Johnson relieved Fogg and rushed for a 17-yard touchdown.

The return of Fogg from injury has provided a jumpstart to the Apex offense, which has struggled at times this season, Wolfe said. Fogg finished the game with 102 yards on eight carries.

“It’s good to have him back,” Wolfe said. “We haven’t had him very much this season. He got hurt in the third game and did get to play in the fourth one, but we haven’t had him since then. So it’s good, it’s just another dimension to our offense and one of the reasons we went to what we’re doing right now.”

Though Panther Creek (1-7, 0-4) had its opportunities, Apex managed to shut them down. The Catamounts’ only touchdown came in the fourth quarter when they were already trailing by 35. Wolfe said he was most impressed by the defensive intensity his team displayed.

“We weren’t quite as soft as we had been in the few weeks before,” Wolfe said. “I thought overall we executed well on both sides of the ball and did some good things on special teams. [We] played with a lot of intensity. I thought defensively in particular we came out [and] played pretty hard.”

Wolfe appeared calm and content as he was awarded a gold jacket for his selection to the Shrine Bowl coaching staff. And with a blowout homecoming victory over the Catamounts, he showed a glimpse of what he’s accomplished at Apex thus far.

“It’s a special moment,” Wolfe said. “I never dreamed to be able to have the opportunity to coach in the Shrine Bowl. When they called me last November and told me I was on the staff, I was really flattered. It’s just a great tribute, not to me, but to our program. This program wouldn’t be anything without our coaching staff and without the players that came through here and worked hard.”