Another scoreless opening half on the road in Worland on Friday had the Powell Panther football team searching for a spark. Evan Whitlock supplied just that on a 66-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Keona Wisniewski late in the third quarter.

That score propelled the Panthers to their first win of the season, 17-0 over the Warriors.

POWELL 17, WORLAND 0

Looking to rebound from a last minute loss the week prior, the Panthers (1-1) wanted to establish a better offensive flow early against the Warriors (0-1).

Powell did just that, moving the ball up the field, but empty possessions accompanied with a strip sack left the Panthers scoreless after the first quarter.

Early in the second the Panthers moved the ball once again, but faced a fourth-and-10 from the Warriors’ 26-yard-line.

Caden Nelson, who split time as a quarterback once again, found Jordan Loera on a pass in the back right corner of the end zone, appearing to score the first points of the season for the Panthers.

Unfortunately, after further discussion, the officials determined that Loera did not complete the catch and the game remained scoreless.

Another chance came before the break, as the Panthers again drove inside the Warriors’ 30-yard-line.

Powell lined up for a 41-yard field goal attempt with 2:29 left, but Ivy Agee’s kick came up just short, and the two teams went into the half tied 0-0.

“I think there’s a lot of frustration in the first half again,” coach Chase Kistler said. “It was just frustrating because we were marching the ball up and down the field. Then we would either get a holding or a fumble … something would happen.”

Another opportunity came midway through the second half, but a fumble deep in the red zone turned the ball over to the Warriors.

After a punt, the Panthers got the ball in their own territory.

On third and 14, Wisniewski found Whitlock running up the left sideline and connected on a 66-yard touchdown as Whitlock outraced the defense to make it 7-0 with 1:30 left in the third quarter.

Whitlock continued his strong play, intercepting a pass at the Panther 20-yard-line with 47 seconds left in the third.

Powell took control of the game from that point forward.

The Panthers worked the clock and took a methodical approach. They took the remainder of the third quarter and nine minutes of the fourth quarter before scoring.

“We got the long passing plays but I was more impressed when we chewed off [the clock],” Kistler said. “We were just patiently moving the ball down the field and didn’t have to rush. Had to use a couple timeouts because of personnel or play calls or whatever, which we’ve got to clean up. But I was just impressed at how we controlled the ball in the second half.”

Agee gave Powell some breathing room with three minutes left when she converted a 27-yard field goal attempt to make it 10-0.

After the kickoff Powell put the game to bed, as Alex Jordan intercepted the ball on the first play from scrimmage.

Loera finally got his touchdown catch with 49 seconds left, as Wisniewski found him over the middle of the field in the end zone to make it 17-0.

“I thought that the second half we just kind of started overpowering them a little bit with our depth, our size and started moving the ball a little bit more,” Kistler said.

Wisniewski led the Panthers in passing and rushing, finishing 6-15 with 131 yards passing and two touchdowns, along with 95 yards rushing on 19 attempts.

Whitlock had three receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown, while Loera added four receptions for 63 yards and a touchdown.

Trevon Abraham had 68 yards rushing on 10 attempts and McKale Foley had seven carries for 41 yards.

Wisniewski led with five tackles, one solo, while Loera had four solo tackles and Abraham had four total tackles, three solo.

Powell finished with 415 yards of total offense, while Worland only recorded 53 yards of offense.

“We’ve just got to finish the plays and give us the touchdowns that we worked so hard for,” Kistler said.

The Panthers held the Warriors to minus 3 yards rushing in the game.

LANDER GAME

Powell continues its non-conference schedule this Friday, returning home to take on the Lander Tigers (1-0) at 6 p.m.

“We’ve got to clean up a lot of mechanics and technique,” Kistler said. “We still gotta work on ball security, but I was impressed with our line. They know what they are doing now, we just gotta get better at it.”

The Tigers defeated Green River in a nonconference matchup 21-14 this past Friday.

POWELL 17, WORLAND 0

Unassisted tackles in ()

Passing — Keona Wisniewski 6-15, 131 yards, two touchdowns; Caden Nelson 3-10, 56 yards

Rushing — Keona Wisniewski 19-95, Trevon Abraham 10-68, McKale Foley 7-41, Caden Nelson 3-12, Cody Seifert 2-12

Receiving — Evan Whitlock 3-120, one touchdown; Jordan Loera 4-63, one touchdown; Alex Jordan 2-4

Tackles — Keona Wisniewski 5 (1),  Jordan Loera 4 (4), Trevon Abraham 4 (3), Tyler Wenzel 3 (1), Evan Whitlock 2, Dusty Carter 2 (1), Doug Bettger 2 (1), Rowan Diaz 1 (1), Caleb Ashcraft 1

Tackles for loss — Keona Wisniewski 1, Dusty Carter .5, Doug Bettger .5

Pass breakups — Dawson Griffin 1

Interceptions — Evan Whitlock 1, Alex Jordan 1