After a pair of emotional wins to start the season, the Powell High School football team came back to earth Friday with a 13-7 loss to visiting Douglas at Panther Stadium.

“We didn’t perform to our capability, and that starts with me,” said PHS head coach Aaron Papich. “I’m going to make sure that we’re ready for Evanston for this conference game Friday.”

Powell was unable to find an answer to Douglas quarterback AJ Yeaman, who accounted for 130 of the Bearcats’ 233 rushing yards; the senior added 56 yards through the air.

The Bearcats got on the board on their second possession, when Yeaman connected with Cooper Gamble for a 12-yard touchdown; the extra point made it 7-0 with just under five minutes to play in the first quarter.

Powell answered in the second quarter, as the Panthers crept into Douglas territory on solid runs by back Kadden Abraham. Facing a 3-and-11 on the Bearcats’ 44-yard-line, Panther quarterback Landon Lengfelder took a play out of last week’s book, hitting Jesse Trotter for a 44-yard scoring strike with 7:41 left in the half.

“That was a great connection between Langfelder and Trotter,” Papich said. “The timing between those two is awesome. We’re just one step away, I think, from hitting some big plays with our running attack as well.”

Hawkin Sweeney’s PAT tied the game at 7-7, and that was the score at halftime.

Both quarterbacks struggled in the first half, with the only completion on either side going for a touchdown. Lengfelder threw a pair of interceptions, while Yeaman threw one of his own. Yeaman got it done on the ground to the tune of 10 carries for 100 yards, though Powell’s defense held the Bearcats to 132 total yards.

“Yeaman is a really good athlete, and we weren’t prepared for how dynamic he was as a runner out of the quarterback spot,” Papich said. “We made adjustments at halftime, and I thought we did a better job containing him in the second half.”

The Panthers had 95 yards in the first half, led by the 44-yard touchdown pass to Trotter and 41 yards on the ground by Abraham.

Douglas kicked off to start the second half, though the Panthers were unable to capitalize on decent field position, going three and out. The Bearcats went on a sustained drive that chewed up most of the third quarter, culminating in a 6-yard touchdown run by Yeaman. The two-point conversion failed, and Douglas led 13-7 with four minutes left in the third. That would be the final, as neither team was able to get anything going for the remainder of the game.

Abraham finished with 65 yards on 14 carries to lead the Panthers; Toran Graham had 8 yards on four carries and Reed Smith added 7 yards on four carries.

Lengfelder didn’t have his best stuff against the Bearcats, completing just the 44-yard touchdown to Trotter amid nine attempts and three picks.

“I told Landon [Lengfelder] to not try to do too much — trust your teammates and yourself,” Papich said. “He’s been very cool and collected, so he’ll shake it off and be fine.”

Defensively for Powell, Carson Olsen again led the charge with 31 defensive points, finishing with 14 tackles; that included eight unassisted and three for a loss. Adrian Geller and Toran Graham finished with 22 and 20 points, respectively.

“Our guys really rallied in the second half, and stayed positive throughout,” Papich said. “I was happy with that. Obviously we didn’t come out with the win, but I told the kids to hold their heads up because they had a lot of big defensive stands. They should feel proud of their effort.”

Garrett Stutzman had a pair of interceptions, while Lengfelder also helped his own cause with a pick. The defense held the Bearcats to just 56 yards passing.

“I thought our secondary did a good job communicating on the field, making sure they were on the same page with the coverage they were in based on what we saw on offense,” Papich said. “It was just a good job by our secondary group executing on that level.”

Though the Panthers were on the losing end of this contest, Papich expressed his appreciation to the Douglas program and its supporters, who presented Powell with a $10,000 check for the Asher family prior to the game. PHS senior Ethan Asher, who was preparing to be the Panthers’ starting quarterback, suffered severe injuries in a rollover last month.

“Coach Jay Rhoades and Douglas, they’re just a class act,” Papich said. “It’s very humbling and just amazing that they presented us with that money for the Asher family and Ethan’s recovery. It really is a big family here in Wyoming. We have a long tradition with Douglas, and it was just very meaningful.”

This week is Homecoming Week at PHS, as the players prepare to welcome in Evanston Friday. Papich said the team will continue to work out the kinks on offense, especially with blocking.

“That’s really where it starts, the fundamentals,” he said. “We’re also going to work on getting the ball out to our guys on the perimeter, take advantage of some one-on-one battles out there. We’re going to spread the ball out more. We know our guys are going to be ready to play. I’m really encouraged right now.”