A new era of Panther football started on the turf last week, with Powell searching for a new identity early in the season.

After graduating a large number of starters and seniors from last year’s squad, including seven All-State players, the Panthers will look in a different direction this season.

“It is a brand new group, and that is OK,” Panther football coach Chase Kistler said. “We try to hold the expectation that you do graduate talent, but then you can rebuild it.”

Kistler said he knows they are heading into an uphill battle, but he knows that this year’s team will work hard to improve throughout the season.

Last year’s edition of the Panthers relied a majority of the time offensively on running, but will likely need to turn in a new direction this year after losing strong offensive linemen and running backs to graduation.

“We had 280-plus pound linemen last year, and now this year our linemen are as fast as our skills guys,” Kistler said. “Spreading out, using the pass and not allowing opponents to load the box, while also having designed run plays off each play.”

He said that yes, the team will look different, but the team returns strong tight ends who will allow the team to still jump into a jumbo set and run the ball inside.

Heading into the first week of the season the Panthers will open up at home this Friday at 6 p.m. against Riverton.

The Panthers and Wolverines will be two of four 3A teams that play each other this week, alongside Cody and Douglas who will also square off on Friday.

The first matchup of the season for Powell will come against a Riverton team that finished 1-8 last year, but graduated only six seniors off its roster.

“We are still focusing on us,” Kistler said. “It is zero week, we have a long way to go in terms of installing stuff. We are just going to focus on us, getting our alignment, doing our assignment and getting our plays right.”