Costly turnover creates three-score deficit

Like last season, the Powell Panthers were ousted in the first round of the playoffs. Unlike last year, the team returned home with a sense of fulfillment despite the loss.

Neither a three-score deficit, a game-changing turnover or the pressure of playing at the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed stamped the fight out of the Panthers as they made the Torrington Trailblazers earn every bit of a 38-24 win on Friday night.

Torrington used a dominant rushing attack and a third-quarter turnover deep in Powell territory to beat the Panthers and advance to the Class 3A semifinals.

Powell is 0-2 in the playoffs over the past two years, but a season-best performance pushed the Blazers until the final whistle and the Panthers returned home with their heads held high.

“What I left the kids with, and what I told them before the game is, ‘We measure ourselves by what our potential is, and we grade ourselves out by our potential,’” PHS head coach Chanler Buck said. “Everyone from coaching staff to players, and everything I saw from that game, I’m extremely pleased by how they ended it. They did it first class.”

Though they never led, the Panthers fought back from numerous two- and three-score deficits as they never let the Blazers rest easy.

“With the success we had against Cody (a 21-9 win in the regular-season finale) … we hit the ground running Monday,” Buck said. “You get confidence in kids that allow them to play to our potential. Even when you are down two, three scores they had the trust in each other.”

Tailback T.J. Abraham capped off his stellar junior season with two touchdowns and 122 yards on 22 carries.

Junior quarterback Mason Olsen had his best game of the season as he accounted for Powell’s other touchdown and 109 yards on 9-for-15 passing.

A fluke turnover caused by a remarkable defensive play in the third quarter put the Panthers in a second-half hole that was too deep to erase.

Torrington just extended its 17-10 halftime lead with a scoring drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jace Canaday when disaster struck the Panthers.

On the first play of the next drive, a Powell handoff to Zach Easum was ripped out of the junior running back’s hands by Torrington’s Logan Harris, who ran the ball down to the 1-yard line.

“He just reaches in and literally just rips it out of his hands,” Buck said. “It was unfortunate the way it happened, and where it (happened). He’s down to the 1. Had it been midfield we may have had a defensive stand there.”

Canaday’s second 1-yard touchdown run of the game put the Blazers up 31-10.

“It was weird, and it was fast and boom they’re on the 1-yard line and punch another one in,” Buck said.

The extra possession was too much for Powell to overcome. 

Down 21, the Panther offense made it a two-score game again with a balanced attack not seen early this season.

Olsen hit Andreasen for 17 yards on second-and-13 to pick up a first down and move into Blazer territory, and a 5-yard pass to senior Kaden Moore plus a personal foul penalty on the Blazers put Powell into the red zone.

Olsen nearly had his second touchdown toss of the game, but senior Carson Asher was stopped at the 1-yard line after his 9-yard catch. Abraham scored on the next play to make it 31-17 with 2:18 remaining in the third quarter.

Torrington milked the second-half clock with its plodding drives, powered by a multi-back ground game and behemoth offensive line.

The Blazers totaled 365 yards rushing and produced a pair of 100-yard backs.

Skyler Miller led the way with 29 carries for 169 yards, and Canaday ran 20 times for 124 yards.

Buck said the Panthers did what they could to stop the run, but in the end they couldn’t counter Torrington’s size.

“When you’re outsized by 50, 60 pounds, it was tough,” Buck said. “We mixed a few things up with some movement, stuff like that. There were times where we would have to luck out to get off blocks. And it made us susceptible in other areas. Our guys scrapped and they played hard.”

Canaday and Miller each ran for two touchdowns while Alan Grimes ran for 72 yards and a score on seven carries. 

Canaday was 4-for-6 for 55 yards and a pick through the air.

After falling into early deficits of 10-0 and 17-3, a 16-yard touchdown throw by PHS junior Mason Olsen to Easum on fourth-and-1 cut the Torrington lead to 17-10.

Olsen faked the handoff to Abraham, rolled right, and found Easum near the flat. Buck said a strong second-effort by Easum turned a first down into a touchdown.

The touchdown drive stalled after a failed third-down conversion, but Torrington gave Powell a free first down with a roughing the kicker penalty on the Panthers’ punt attempt.

A 7-yard pass from Olsen to senior Ezra Andreasen made it third-and-short and an Abraham run wasn’t able to convert on third down.

Instead of letting senior kicker Jeron Smith go for his second field goal of the game, the Panthers put the ball in the hands of their first-year quarterback.

“The confidence factor plays a tremendous role,” Buck said of Olsen’s improved performances against Torrington and last week in Cody. “Not only in the guys you’re throwing the ball to, but in yourself. To see a first-year quarterback develop throughout the season, and to end the way he did. I was very very proud of him.”

Olsen completed a season-best 60 percent of his passes, and though he threw one interception, he extended Powell drives with his arm as well as his feet, and picked off a pass of his own.

With just more than a minute to go in the second quarter, Canaday connected on a 32-yard pass to put Torrington into Powell territory. The Blazers, trying to answer Easum’s touchdown catch, threw deep again, but this time the ball fell into the hands of Olsen.

The Panthers attempted to catch the Blazers off guard with a pooch kick following Abraham’s first touchdown, but Torrington’s return team recovered it and drove down for a 1-yard touchdown run by Miller to go up 38-17.

Powell scored the final touchdown of the game with 5:49 remaining.

Olsen hit Asher for a 25-yard pick up and Abraham capitalized with a 3-yard TD run out of the shotgun less than 30 seconds later.

Andreasen led the Panthers with three catches for 45 yards. Senior wide receiver Carson Asher had 34 yards on two catches, both of which set up Abraham touchdown runs.

Olsen rushed for 20 yards on five carries. Josh Wolfe had one carry for 14 yards, and Easum had two carries for three yards.

Torrington will host Star Valley at 7 p.m. on Friday in a semifinal matchup. A win by the Braves will guarantee an all-West title game. The other semifinal game is between the West’s No. 3 Green River and No. 1 Jackson.

Buck said the Panthers made a leap over the season’s final two weeks, and was proud of them for “growing up” when it mattered most.

“These were fantastic kids to coach,” Buck said of the entire Panthers squad. “We found a lot of success in a lot of different areas. Other than trying to squeeze by a couple big, dominant teams, there was a lot of wins outside of Friday nights.

“I still walk away with a smile knowing the kids got a lot out of the season.”