Braves upset No. 1 Panthers, 19-13

The Powell Panthers gained almost 400 yards of offense on Friday afternoon. For the third consecutive week, the defensive unit of the top-ranked Panthers held an opponent out of the end zone.

None of it mattered, however, as Powell likely saw its reign as Class 3A’s top-ranked football team come crashing to an end in Afton. Four field goals and a defensive touchdown were enough to give Star Valley a 19-13 victory.

“We didn’t do well anywhere,” said Panther head coach Jim Stringer. “We didn’t give a consistent effort. We didn’t execute consistently. We had way too many penalities. You can go down the list.”

Things appeared to be going well for Powell early as sophomore Cory Heny took the second handoff of the game 60 yards to the Star Valley 6. Josh Cragoe moved the ball to the 3 on the next play, but Powell was turned away on three consecutive plays, finally relinquishing possession of the football at the 1.

The Braves proceeded to drive the ball 90 yards in eight plays before back-to-back penalties stalled their opening drive at the 19. A 36-yard field goal put the Braves in front and brought an end to a nine-quarter scoreless streak against the Panthers’ defense.

The Braves stretched their advantage to 10-0 late in the first period thanks to one of the Powell’s two turnovers in the game. The disaster started affter the Panthers lost 11 yards on a first-down sweep play, finally getting tackled at their own 2. On the next snap, the ball bounded away from Cragoe and into the end zone, where a Star Valley defender corraled the football for a defensive score.

That play was enough to snap the Panthers out of their funk momentarily. The team responded with an eight-play, 71-yard drive, capped by Olie Olson’s 1-yard dive into the end zone on the second play of the second quarter. The score was fitting as it was Olson’s 44-yard breakaway run earlier in the drive that had moved the Panthers into the red zone. Cragoe also produced a pair of key runs on the drive, including a 12-yard dash on fourth down to set Olson up for his score.

Star Valley tacked on its second field goal, a 35-yarder, later in the period to take a 13-6 lead into intermission.

Both teams opened the second half with sustained drives that produced no points. Star Valley tallied the first points of the second period on a 37-yard field goal nearly nine minutes into the third quarter for a 16-6 advantage.

Powell answered with a 90-yard touchdown drive. Keithen Schwahn began the drive with a 21-yard carry for the Panthers. Key pass completions from Cragoe to Schwahn and Cooper Wise helped move the ball through Braves territory before Heny scampered the final six yards to score.

The Braves’ fourth field goal of the game came with 9:42 remaining, a 25-yard kick after the Panthers’ defense flexed its muscle inside the 10.

Powell appeared on its way to answering the score on the next possession. The Panthers needed just two plays to get the ball back into Star Valley territory, but two holding penalites — two of the 10 infractions whistled on Powell in the game — forced the team to have to punt.

Powell got the ball back at midfield with 4:59 remaining in the game and moved to the Braves’ 28 in two plays. There, the drive stalled as Powell lost 2 yards on two running plays and saw a fourth-down pass sail incomplete.

“That was the trouble tonight,” said Stringer. “We didn’t sustain drives. We’d have a big play here, but then we’d give back a bunch of yards.”

As a team, the Panthers gashed Star Valley for 311 yards on just 40 rushing plays. Powell connected on 6 of 15 passing plays for 79 yards and one interception. Star Valley finished with 324 yards against the Panthers’ defense. The Braves rushed for 221 yards on 40 plays and were 8-for-17 through the air for an additional 103 yards.

Wise registered the only takeaway for Powell’s defense with an interception. For the second consecutive season, the Panthers are leading Class 3A in interceptions on defense.

The Panthers fall to 4-1 with the loss and will almost assuredly slide from atop the rankings this week. The team is now 1-1 in 3A West play and hosts Worland this Friday.