Heading into a first round Class 3A state playoff game at Riverton, Chanler Buck is certain of one thing: the Powell High School football team is in a state of uncertainty.

Ahead of Friday’s 6 p.m. rematch (RHS defeated Powell 20-14 in week three), Buck, PHS’s interim head coach, has been forced to shuffle the deck after a wave of injuries took its toll during the Panthers’ 39-0 loss to Cody in the regular season finale. The winner of Friday’s game will face the winner of the Rawlins-Cody contest in the semifinal round on Nov. 7.

“We don’t know what our physical status is going to be,” Buck said of his battered team. “The status of injured players will be decided Thursday night.”

Nagging injuries to starting quarterback/linebacker Carter Baxter, lineman Riley Stringer and wide receiver/defensive back Kalei Smith have forced the PHS coaching staff into an undesirable position. Buck and his assistants are now looking for new and inexperienced players to play in the Panthers’ most important game of the season.

“This is going to give other kids opportunities. Over the past couple of weeks, we've had to mix things up and teach kids new positions,” Buck said. “With the kids that we have, schematically you have to game plan around those kids and what they can do.”

If his number is called, one of those kids could be junior Mason Olsen, PHS’ backup QB. Olsen played near the end of the Cody loss, but passed sparingly. Buck said that the focus this week has been on preparing Olsen for the most important game of his prep career.

“You can prepare a kid as best you can given the circumstances, and I think Mason is going to do a fantastic job,” Buck said. “But you can’t put all the weight on him. Yes, he’s our guy, he’s our next in line, and we as a coaching staff have confidence in him. But a win against Riverton will still be a team effort.”

With Olsen’s inexperience behind center, if PHS is forced to play him, the Panther running game could be featured more heavily against the Wolverines. Seniors Ty Herd and Ryan Ferro have handled a majority of the carries this season and should be the focus in the backfield. Ironically, Ferro has battled injuries this season as well, starting with a concussion against RHS during the teams’ first meeting.

In that first pairing, it was the Wolverines who were nursing injuries, most notably starting senior running back Steven Reinig, who will be at full strength Friday. RHS coach Patrick Patterson shared disappointment over the prospect of injuries possibly affecting what he hopes will be an exciting, competitive game.

“Those injuries are really unfortunate, and you don’t want any of that in a game like this,” Patterson said. “But I also know whoever fills the spots of whoever can’t play will do a good job. You don’t win three state championships in a row without players who can step in and fill roles when they’re called upon.”

Regardless of who shows up on the Panther sideline, Patterson said he knows the game will be a tough one.

“When you’re playing Powell, you’re going to have to be at your best to beat them, no matter what,” he said. “I expected it to be a tough game, a war, the first time we played them, and I expect that to be the case again.”

Meanwhile, Buck is just hoping the soldiers he brings to that battle can extend PHS’s season to the 3A semifinal round.

“We won’t be the team that we naturally are, but we’ll be fine,” Buck said. “The injuries, that’s what happens this time of the year. It’s probably more common than not that teams are banged up. You’d be extremely unfortunate if you’re not banged up.

“But at the end of the day, we are a team, and we rely on everybody. Some of these kids stepping up will be sophomores ... some will be juniors, but that’s our only option.”