BUFFALO — When TJ Abraham offered Buffalo High School a victory, and it refused, the Powell sophomore made sure to show the Bison what they were missing.

Abraham overcame two turnovers deep in PHS territory to score a pair of crucial touchdowns, and the Panthers survived sloppy play and sloppier conditions to claim a 19-9 win at Buffalo.

After Buffalo was hit with nearly 10 inches of snow between Thursday evening and early Friday morning, the newly renamed Mike Moon Field became something closer to a swamp than a football field. A wet football made its mark early, as PHS quarterback Carter Baxter lost control of the ball in BHS territory to end the Panthers’ first possession on a turnover.

PHS (2-0) eventually recovered and marched 61 yards on its next series, with Baxter making it a 6-0 lead on a 7-yard run.

Then it got interesting, and as Abraham put it: “Oh my goodness.”

The PHS defense forced the Bison (0-2) into a 3-and-out on their ensuing drive, and on fourth down, BHS punted from its own 25-yard line. But the ball slipped through the hands of Abraham, who was back deep to receive, and a swarm of Bison rushed and recovered the ball at the Panther 30.

“That was frustrating,” Abraham said of the miscue. “But I just did my best not to let it get to me. You’ve got to move on to the next play and put the mistakes in the past.”

Six plays later, Abraham put 95 yards between himself and the muffed punt, returning an interception from Bison quarterback Christian Schultze for a touchdown and a 12-0 lead with 8:17 to play in the first half.

“That was a relief. It felt good to make up for that mistake,” Abraham said. “I’m just glad my teammates continued supporting me after I put us in a bad spot a couple of times.”

BHS answered with a 58-yard drive on its next series, and finally found the scoreboard due in part to Abraham’s second muffed punt. The Bison downed the fumble at the PHS 38, and marched 23 yards before a 33-yard field goal made it a 12-3 game.

Powell committed four first-half turnovers, with a Baxter interception off a dropped pass accounting for the fourth. The Bison committed four turnovers of their own.

After the two muffed catches, Kalei Smith was inserted on punt returns for the Panthers, but Abraham found another way to be effective, and sealed the win for PHS.

After another 3-and-out for Buffalo set the Panther offense up at the BHS 38, Abraham took a handoff from Baxter on first down. The speedster quickly found an opening through the left side of the line and outraced everybody on his way to what turned into a knockout blow for the Bison. In what appeared to be a gesture of relief, Abraham fell on his back as he crossed the goal line and spread his arms out as teammate Carson Asher greeted him on the ground.

“That was a great moment for TJ, he’s a great kid,” Powell interim coach Chanler Buck said of the touchdown run. “We made some mistakes in this ballgame against a tenacious Buffalo team, but I think we all, TJ especially, proved that you can fight and overcome.”

Buffalo deserved praise after refusing to go away. Despite the 10-point disadvantage, the Bison put pressure on PHS with a 63-yard scoring drive on their ensuing possession, capped by Schultze’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Zane Hengel. Tackling was an issue for the Panthers, at least in that sequence, as Hengel spun out of at least a half dozen PHS tacklers on his way to making it a 19-9 contest with 2:47 to play.

BHS failed to pull within one score after coming up short on the 2-point conversion.

Buffalo outgained Powell 312-206 in total offense, with Kasen Filbert leading a 171-yard rushing attack with 107 yards on 19 carries. Schultze finished 10-of-24 passing for 141 yards with the touchdown and interception.

PHS fullback Ty Herd carried the ball 14 times for 76 yards to lead the Panthers (177 total yards rushing), including runs of 20 and 31 yards.

After back-to-back road trips that totaled a minimum of six hours round trip, PHS will return to Powell for its home opener Friday, a 7 p.m. homecoming matchup with Riverton (2-0).

“It feels good to be undefeated,” Buck said. “And after two long road trips and a couple of hard-fought wins, it’s going to feel good to be home.”