Panthers roar back 31-10

Posted 9/30/14

There was no last-second mistake from the senior this week. In fact, there were very few mistakes at all, as Baxter threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another as the Panthers opened their 3A West Conference slate with a 31-10 rout of …

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Panthers roar back 31-10

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PHS quarterback Carter Baxter fuels big offensive night  

GREEN RIVER — After his Homecoming week ended in heartbreak seven days earlier, it was fitting that Powell High School quarterback Carter Baxter wore the biggest smile on Friday night.

He earned it.

There was no last-second mistake from the senior this week. In fact, there were very few mistakes at all, as Baxter threw for 311 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another as the Panthers opened their 3A West Conference slate with a 31-10 rout of host Green River.

One week after mistakenly spiking the football on fourth down to seal Powell’s first home loss in more than two years, Baxter exhibited a short-term memory in Friday’s blowout.

During his team’s first offensive series, Baxter all but buried memories of Homecoming. He marched PHS (3-1, 1-0) 76 yards downfield on 12 plays, completing all three of his pass attempts for 53 yards in the process. Fullback Ty Herd eventually ran in from 8 yards out for a touchdown, and the Panthers were on their way with a 7-0 lead with 4:08 left in the first quarter.

“We came out and played well right from the first snap,” Baxter said. “But honestly, I can give all the credit to my receivers for my performance tonight, because they were making huge plays.”

After Green River (0-4, 0-1) responded to the Panther touchdown with Tanner Trumble’s 41-yard field goal on its next drive, Baxter and the PHS offense continued where they left off. And this time, Baxter found a familiar target.

Starting at their own 23-yard line, the Panthers got going with Herd’s 2-yard burst. Baxter then hit standout senior wide receiver Kalei Smith across the middle for a short gain, but Smith turned on the jets and outran the entire Wolves defense for a 75-yard touchdown. Luccho Maurizi kicked the extra point to cap off the 55-second drive, and PHS was in control again at 14-3.

For the night, Baxter finished 14-of-18 passing. He threw a harmless interception in the fourth quarter, but also completed six passes of 18 yards or more. He found Carson Asher (four catches, 86 yards) on a 51-yard bomb just before halftime that led to Baxter’s 1-yard TD plunge and a 24-3 Panther lead. Later, Baxter connected with Smith again for a 61-yard TD strike that concluded the scoring with 11:49 left to play.

“It’s not even on me in this one ... we had a lot of playmakers tonight,” Baxter added. “The offense as a whole is running much better each week, and that’s because everyone is working hard and working together.”

Smith finished with 182 yards on seven receptions, building on last week’s five-catch, 126-yard performance in which he also hauled in two touchdowns.

“Practice is helping a lot ... reps and scout team,” he said. “We’re going full speed now in practice, and we told our scout team that they have to step it up and push us, and they have. That’s really helped all of us.”

One of the few Panther blemishes of the night came late in the third quarter. Starting at its own 20, Green River pushed to Powell’s 48 via the legs of quarterback Tyler Vendetti and Gage Hunt. Then on first down, Vendetti found a seam through the PHS defense and hooked up with Riley Yeager for a 48-yard score to pull within 24-10.

Any hopes of a possible comeback were dashed on the next Panther series however, as Baxter found Smith for their second deep throw and catch.

On Powell’s third drive of the contest, Maurizi made good on a 21-yard field goal with 6:30 left in the first half to make it a 17-3 lead. Baxter’s rushing touchdown later in the half gave his team points on all four of the Panthers’ first-half possessions.

“It was tough coming off of last week’s loss, and it was carefully approached how we were going to take this week on ... day by day,” PHS interim head coach Chanler Buck said. “The kids accepted it very well, we got a lot accomplished throughout the week and we built an overall confidence among everybody.”

The Panthers’ defense, which is now allowing a respectable 14 points per game this season, also stepped up big. The Wolves managed just 80 yards of offense in the first half and 193 for the game. Vendetti finished 6 of 17 through the air for 146 yards, and also threw an interception to Smith on Green River’s final drive. PHS amassed 476 total yards.

After slowly gaining momentum through the first three weeks of the regular season, it appeared Herd bought into the confidence Buck spoke of. With starting running back Ryan Ferro sidelined with a concussion, Herd carried the ball 20 times for 100 yards, and also caught a Baxter pass for 24 yards late in the game to seal the victory. The senior said an improved understanding from the PHS offensive line played a large role in the Panthers’ 166 rushing yards as well as Baxter’s big night.

“Each week our offensive line gets better, and that’s because they’re learning what they need to do more and more each week, and they’re staying focused,” Herd said, and added: “As far as Carter goes ... it’s kind of weird, because last week it was us as a team picking him up after the Riverton game. But this week, he picked all of us up.”

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