Star Valley came to town Friday night undefeated and as the No. 1-ranked 3A team in the state.

The Braves left with that standing very much in jeopardy after Powell stopped them cold in an epic 22-14 win.

“We had phenomenal leadership throughout the week and all the credit goes to our seniors,” head coach Chanler Buck said in a post-game interview on KPOW-AM.

Star Valley had been averaging over 36 points per game through its first five games, but as the Panther defense has shown all season, it was more than up to the task of shutting down the running game.

Early on it looked like the Braves might do as they had all season — marching from their own 21 and scoring on their opening drive.

A big pass completion from Payton Erickson to Joey Swanson picked up 59 yards during the drive, and the two hooked up again on a 17-yard scoring strike to put Star Valley up 7-0 less than four minutes into the game.

But having taken that opening salvo, Powell struck right back with their own scoring drive.

The running game was held in check, but quarterback Mason Olsen was about to start his big night passing, connecting with Zach Easum for 12 yards, Brekyn Herd for 8 and T.J. Abraham for 10.

The Panthers then got on the board when Olsen found a wide-open Herd in the back of the end zone.

The extra point was not successful, however, and Star Valley still led 7-6.

Powell’s defense forced a three-and-out on the Braves next possession, and early on the Panther’s next drive, an apparently frustrated Star Valley defensive lineman took a swipe at a Powell player and was ejected.

Then it was back to the Mason Olsen air show as he mixed in medium gains while Abraham started to gain some traction in the ground game.

From the 23-yard line, Olsen evaded a would-be sacker and scrambled out of the pocket. Rolling to his right, he found his target, Herd again, for a touchdown that would put Powell on top, 12-7, as the first quarter came to an end.

The score remained the same through most of the second quarter, with both defenses stepping up to halt drives.

The Braves got some momentum after stopping Powell on a goal-line stand and drove 94 yards to score just before halftime and retake the lead, 14-12.

But Olsen got the Panthers right back in the lead on the opening drive of the third quarter.

A 20-yard pass to Herd, a 16-yarder to Easum and a 3-yard gain on a screen to Kanyon Gann got the ball to the Star Valley 27.

After a loss of 3 yards on a fumbled pitch, Olsen threw to Abraham who took it the rest of the way in and put Powell back on top, 19-14.

“Star Valley has some big dudes inside and there are times where you’re not going to have success running the ball,” Buck said on KPOW. “So you’ve got to be able to throw it. We’ve been hammering that and help keep the offense diverse and keep us competitive.”

After the defense forced another three-and-out, the Panthers got some nice gains from Abraham on the ground and Olsen continued to pick apart the Star Valley defensive backfield for solid gains.

The drive stalled, but freshman Garrett Stutzman booted a 35-yard field goal through the uprights to make it a 22-14 margin with 1:58 left in the third quarter.

The Braves looked like they might march right back into it, as their next drive reached the Panther 18-yard line.

But Olsen came up big on the defensive side of the ball, picking off an Erickson pass and bringing it out to the 38 with 10:45 left in the game.

Star Valley had a couple more chances, but the Panther defense wouldn’t let up, and the top team in the state went away toppled.

“The defense had fun out there tonight and we need them to be successful,” Buck said on KPOW. “It’s a team effort of all those guys on defense. This was as big and physically intense team as there is out there, and we stood toe-to-toe with them.”