Quick start by Cody Bronc gridders sets tone for 43-0 shutout

The Powell Panthers football team didn’t have the season they wanted, finishing 1-7 with a 43-0 loss to Cody on Friday.

“They [Cody] had their momentum early in the game and just never let off the gas,” said Powell High School head coach Chanler Buck.

The first two possessions by the Broncs resulted in touchdowns and a 14-0 lead; by halftime, Cody built the lead to 30-0.

“It was really difficult to handle the speed and pressure that Cody allowed on the defensive side of the ball,” Buck said. “They play really hard and are fast.”

The Panther defense gave up 514 yards of total offense to the Broncs — the most all season — with a staggering 472 yards on the ground to go along with 42 yards passing.

“They executed well,” Buck said. “[We] didn’t execute real well up front at times early in the game.”

Powell managed only 4 yards at the half, ending the game with 139 total yards, 107 on the ground.

A.J. Lewis had 10 carries for 63 yards total on offense and on defense had 13 defensive points with three assisted tackles and five unassisted tackles.

Brooks Asher led on defense with a total of 17 points on two assisted tackles, five unassisted tackles and one fumble recovery.

With the season now concluded, Buck said he was very “very proud of the senior leadership.”

The seniors on the team are Asher, Brice Budwine, Scout Blair, Cesar Corro, Trent Desjarlais, Shay Dillon, Max Gallagher, Lewis, Zach Meredith, Jon Morrow, CJ Wardwell, Luke Washington and Josh Wolfe.

“They sold out, they left it all out there,” Buck said.

Buck also said that the senior class did a good job all season working with the underclassmen to help them improve. The coach said they were excellent leaders in continuing to work hard.

“I thought a lot of the seniors did very well,” said Buck, adding that they finished things the right way.

Though the Panthers had a losing record, Buck said there was a lot of improvement throughout the season. Special teams improved a lot from the beginning of the season, he said, especially with getting better field position on kickoff returns.

“Kickoff return was exceptional against Cody,” Buck said.

The Powell team also cut down on their turnovers in the tail end of the season. The previous week, the Panthers had only one turnover against the Star Valley Braves, compared to almost 10 at the beginning of the season.

As for the coming years of Panther football, Buck said the “future is bright.”

“I think we got some real good underclassmen that are going to continue to grow and be a special part of the next couple of years,” he said.