A season ago, the Powell High School football team was a program in flux, transitioning to a new head coach and searching for an identity.

Year two of the Aaron Papich era began in earnest last week with the start of two-a-day practices, and the head coach is excited for the challenge the upcoming season presents.

“This is a great time of year, I’m excited,” Papich said. “Things are going really good — we’ve had a lot of energy every day, and you can just get a sense as a coach about the kind of season you’re going to have based on the excitement of your players. They’ve been excited the whole week.”

The Panthers are coming off consecutive 1-7 campaigns, though last season could have just as easily been 5-3 or 6-2. Powell held halftime leads in five of its eight games, and with the exception of the final game of the season against Jackson, were still a threat in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve got a lot of guys coming back, and we had a lot of young guys thrown into the fire early,” Papich said. “They’re coming back with that varsity experience, so I think that’s going to help us a lot, not only for those particular players, but for our veterans. We’re going to have a lot of players playing and rotating at the varsity level. It’s going to be a real team effort.”

The Panthers will rely on player rotation to keep fresh legs on the field, and bench players will have opportunities for an extended amount of playing time.

“We’ve told the guys, that ‘Hey, you might not be the starter, but it is possible you could get just as many plays as a starter,’” Papich explained. “Both sides of the ball, if we can keep one guy on one side the majority of the game and another on the other side of the ball, that’s only half the reps of a two-way starter. That’s something that’s possible for us this year, so we’ll continue to evaluate film and see where we are as far as skill. But it’s exciting to have more than one guy at each position at the varsity level.”

The mantra for the Panthers this season is “Everything Matters.”

“We have to take a game day approach, a game day mentality every day to practice. We can’t just flip a switch at 7 p.m. on Friday night,” Papich said. “We’re trying to put the full picture together during practice so that come Friday, our guys are ready to respond.”

Team counting on returners

Powell lost nine players to graduation, including All-State players Kaelan Groves and Carson Heinen and two-way standout Dalton Woodward. The offensive and defensive lines also took a hit with the loss of Sawyer Mauthe, Carter Olsen and Duy Hoang. There are some big shoes to fill, but Papich is confident he has the returners to do it.

Returners include All-Conference linebacker and running back Brody Karhu, who, along with fellow back Kadden Abraham, will provide a solid one-two punch in the backfield.

“It’s great to have versatility in the backfield, and with those two [Karhu and Abraham] it’s iron sharpens iron,” Papich said. “They’re always competing against each other in practice, whether one’s a running back and one’s a linebacker or vice versa. They’re always going at each other and pushing each other every day. It never stops with those two.”

Karhu said having a younger player like Abraham push him in practice will be instrumental in both players’ success this season.

“He [Abraham] brings a ton of agility and speed to the table,” he said. “He’s not only very athletic, he’s also a great leader as well. It’s great to have him along side.”

Quarterback Ethan Asher, voted the team’s MVP following last season, is back and battling Jesse Trotter and Landon Lengfelder for the starting spot under center.

“Those guys have been getting reps at the varsity level, and they all have different skill sets they bring,” Papich said. “They all have talent, so with Worland in two weeks, we just have to see how they continue to build and develop.”

For his part, Asher said he’s been impressed with how the team is coming together during two-a-days; the senior is also encouraged by the fact the Panthers weren’t hit as hard by graduation as some of their opponents.

“We have a lot of depth, and we have a lot of people that are willing to work hard,” he said. “We should be in for a good season. And I’m thinking with us being so close to everybody last season, I think a lot of the other teams lost a lot more than we did. We have a lot of guys coming back.”

Macen Thomas, Ryan Good and Seth Horton will bring experience to the offensive and defensive line, while Carson Olsen and Kobe Ostermiller will provide depth on both sides of the ball as well. Sophomore Hawkin Sweeney, voted Special Teams Player of the Year by his teammates last season, will not only kick the ball for the Panthers this season, but return kicks as well. Sophomore linebacker Toran Graham came on strong at the end of last season, and was named the team’s Rookie of the Year by his teammates; Papich said Graham will play significant minutes on both sides of the ball.

“We have a lot of guys with varsity experience,” Papich said. “It really feels good to know that we have options. We’re excited.”

As for younger players Papich expects to make an impact, sophomore lineman Lane Shramek has been getting a lot of reps with the first team offense and defense.

‘Lane has been doing all of the things we ask him to do at practice,” Papich said. “He’s really developed a lot and came with focus and intensity to practice, which our coaches really like.”

Papich said he’ll look to his seniors to provide leadership this season.

Thus far, “the leadership has been outstanding, so I basically see my role as helping facilitate these guys in what they’re doing, helping them be successful,” he said. “They’re the ones that are getting things going. Whatever I have to do to help them be successful and reach their goals, that’s what we as coaches see our roles as.”

Game day approaching

The Panthers held an intra-squad scrimmage Saturday morning at Panther Stadium, giving the players a taste of live hitting and working out the kinks in the playbook. With just a week of practice in the books, position battles are going full tilt, and the scrimmage gave coaches a better of idea of where certain players are at in their development.

“We’ve got a lot of clean-up to do on our plays and certain technical parts of the game, but as far as energy and leadership goes, the scrimmage was outstanding,” Papich said. “But we’re excited to play a real football game. We have a lot of refining to do, but our players want to get out there and play. We’re excited for Riverton this weekend, but especially for Worland the next week, when it’s an official game. Two weeks away seems like a long time.”

Papich and his coaching staff stressed the importance of summer workouts to the team, and the players didn’t disappoint. Led by the seniors on the roster, the weight room at PHS was alive with activity all summer.

“There were a ton of guys that came in and put in the extra work this summer,” Karhu said. “Waking up early, hitting the weights, then coming out to the field and throw some routes. There’s been a lot of guys out here dedicated to the sport and the season. I think that will totally pay off.”

The Panthers travel to Riverton Friday for what Papich calls a “modified” game against the Wolverines. Originally scheduled as a Zero Week contest, the game will now count only as a controlled scrimmage, with the season opener the following weekend at home against Worland. Papich said he and his staff will use the Riverton scrimmage to shore up a few things on both sides of the ball, as well as evaluate players’ roles heading into the opener.

“We’re excited to go to Riverton, but I’m ready for week one,” he said. “We’re ready for a game. Coming into Riverton, we’ll work on adjustments and the game plan. But we’re confident in what we’ll be able to do. We have great players — it’s our job to help them play great.”