The Powell Panther football team suffered a heartbreaking 28-10 loss to the Star Valley Braves for the 3A State Championship game on Friday in Laramie. Despite the score, Powell was in the running for a victory up until late in the third quarter, when Star Valley began pulling ahead.

“I think overall we saw the Star Valley team that’s been dominant outside of their loss to us,” said Chanler Buck, Powell High School head football coach.

To start off Friday’s game, Star Valley received the ball and on their opening drive, Josh Dawson ran in a 76-yard touchdown. Just 18 seconds into the contest, Powell was down 7-0.

Buck said that every once in a while, the Panthers’ one-on-one match-ups were off, leading to big plays and eventual scores for the Braves.

With 9:36 left in the second quarter, the Panthers answered that touchdown with a 1-yard run from quarterback Mason Olsen. Seven minutes later, Powell took a 10-7 lead on a 35-yard field goal from freshman kicker Garrett Stutzman. However, just four seconds before halftime, Star Valley pulled ahead 14-10 with a 1-yard run.

Star Valley wouldn’t score again until 3:03 remaining in the third quarter, when Kellen Hansen ran 43 yards for a 21-10 lead. The Braves’ final score of the night came on another 1-yard run with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, making the score 28-10.

“Offensively, we knew we had to execute extremely well in order to sustain a good game with Star Valley. At times it was there. I thought there was good momentum and energy in the first half,” said Buck. “In the second half, they just kind of wore us out.”

At the start of the season, this Panther football team was not expected to make it to the state championship game. They rebounded from three losses in their first four games to win six straight and reach the title game, finishing with a 7-4 record.

“Overall it was a heck of a ride,” Buck said. “Really enjoyed working with these kids.”

Powell possessed the ball for a total of 21:04, with Star Valley holding the ball for 26:56. On third down conversions, Powell picked up two of nine while Star Valley converted nine of 13 attempts. On fourth down tries, the Panthers converted two of three attempts and Star Valley went two-for-two.

As a team, Powell managed 109 rushing yards on 25 attempts for an average of 4.4 yards per cary; Star Valley, meanwhile, rushed for 321 yards in 51 attempts for an average of 6.3 yards per carry. Powell had 156 total passing yards and Star Valley had 87. For total offense, Star Valley amassed 408 yards to Powell’s 265.

Star Valley picked up 18 first downs — 15 of them on the ground — to Powell’s 15.

Individually, Olsen completed 11-of-23 passes for 130 yards while being sacked twice. Paige Gann threw one pass to Olsen for a 26-yard reception.

T.J. Abraham hauled in five passes for 44 yards, Zach Easum caught two for 25 yards and Carson Heinen similarly had two catches for 23 yards. Kanyon Gann had one reception for 24 yards and Brekyn Herd caught a 14-yard pass.

On the ground, Olsen had 10 rushes for a net of 61 yards and a touchdown; T.J. Abraham had 15 carries for a total of 48 yards.

Powell senior Nate MaGill returned three punts for 98 yards; Abraham returned one kickoff for 15 yards. Stutzman booted three kickoffs for a total of 158 yards plus the field goal.

Leading the Panthers in total yards were Abraham with 107 and Olsen with 87.

On defense, Abraham led with 13 tackles — nine unassisted and four assisted. Close behind was Eli Briggs with 10 unassisted tackles and two assisted tackles. Brooks Asher also hit double digits, with seven unassisted tackles and three assisted tackles for a total of 10.

Shattuck Swenson had five unassisted tackles and A.J. Lewis also had five with two unassisted and three assisted tackles. MaGill had three unassisted tackles and one assisted for a total of four. Making three tackles apiece were Paige Gann and Brekyn Herd; Paige Gann had three unassisted and Herd had two unassisted and one assisted. Olsen had two unassisted tackles and with one unassisted tackle apiece were Stutzman and Easum.

Buck said he will miss the seniors, the time spent with them and their leadership skills, but said he’s also looking forward to the future of Panther football.

“They continued to get better each and every week and were very coachable,” Buck said of this year’s players. “They did an excellent job of doing the little things, everything from things like academics, to their friendships, to getting to the weight room and keeping healthy and all of those things come together and contributed to the success we had.”