A late comeback wasn’t enough to overcome a slow start for the Powell Panthers, who fell to the visiting Worland Warriors in the home opener 23-20 on Friday.

WORLAND 23, POWELL 20

Looking for improvement in the second week of the season, the Panthers (0-2) welcomed in the 2A Warriors (1-0).

Powell started with a three and out, resulting in a bad punt and giving Worland good field position.

The Warriors quickly started running downhill, taking six plays to go 26 yards and score a touchdown to make it 7-0 with 7:36 left in the first quarter.

Another Powell three and out followed before a receiver got in behind the Panther defense and caught a 43-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 with 4:25 remaining.

Powell once again was unable to advance the ball, and punted it deep in Worland territory.

Worland’s strong start continued, as a receiver got in behind the defense once again on third and 3, scoring on an 85-yard touchdown to make it 20-0 after a blocked PAT.

“It wasn’t about schemes. It wasn’t about, who’s got that guy? Who’s doing this? It was literally like, ‘guys we just need to play,’” coach Chase Kistler said. “That first quarter, hopefully they learn from that and they grow. We’re young and we’ve got to get better. We’ve got to grow.”

Powell finally had a drive rolling in the second quarter, but after reaching the 2-yard line a couple of mistakes forced the Panthers back.

A field goal attempt was blocked, and Worland again found a way to get on the board before the break.

The Warriors worked their way down and got a field goal with no time left on the clock taking a 23-0 lead into the break.

Worland got the ball to start the second half, but Powell quickly took over after Broc Frank recovered a fumbled snap with 10:12 left in the third quarter.

Powell followed with a drive that resulted in a 4-yard touchdown pass to Rowan Diaz from Tanner Seifert to make it 23-7 with 7:39 in the third.

“If we would have played like that [the second half] for four quarters, we would have been just fine in this game, but we didn’t, and we were timid in the first half,” Kistler said. “It was either you guys are going to play scared and we’re gonna lose by 40, or we can just start playing downhill and start playing aggressive … I think they responded to that. I think they realized that their backs are against the wall.”

Worland drove until the Panthers forced a turnover on downs, but Powell gave it right back with an interception on the next play.

Powell forced another turnover on downs, but that ensuing drive stalled in the fourth on another turnover on downs.

Worland eventually gave the ball back to Powell on downs, and the Panthers went on a five minute drive that resulted in another Diaz touchdown catch from 2 yards out.

Powell went for two but was unsuccessful, and the pooch kick was recovered by Worland.

The Warriors fumbled on the first play of the drive, and Powell quickly capitalized with a 20-yard touchdown to Breckyn Kobbe.

Powell couldn’t recover the ensuing onside kick, and Worland kneeled out the clock to earn the win.

The Panthers were unable to finish with positive rushing yards in the contest, but managed nearly 150 yards passing against the Warriors with all three passing touchdowns coming from Seifert.

“They (Seifert and Karcher Foley) still both do things really well. Karcher is really good with his feet, and Tanner he’s got a little bit more command. He knows the offense and he knows the formations,” Kistler said. “In Lander I want to start getting one playing quarterback and one move to a different position because we need them both out on the field. It helps us with depth, it helps us with playmakers out there.”

Tyler Wenzel led the Panthers with 11 tackles, including six solo.

BACK TO FREMONT COUNTY

Powell heads back on the road this Friday, making the trip to Lander to take on the Tigers (1-0) at 6 p.m.

“It’d be awesome if we can control the line,” Kistler said. “It depends on how healthy we are if we can control the line or not. If not, then we’ve got to go play really low pads.”

WORLAND 23, POWELL 20

Total tackles then solo tackles in ()

Passing — Tanner Seifert 10-18, 83 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception; Karcher Foley 6-12, 61 yards

Rushing — Rowan Diaz 2-27, Lincoln Crawford 10-19, Tanner Seifert 3-1, Tyler Wenzel 1 for negative 16, Karcher Foley 6 for negative 34

Receiving — Breckyn Kobbe 5-65, 1 touchdown; Pratt Wambeke 3-31; Broc Frank 3-23; Caleb Ashcraft 2-10; Tyler Wenzel 1-9; Rowan Diaz 2-6, 2 touchdowns

Tackles — Tyler Wenzel 11 (6), Karcher Foley 8 (3), Broc Frank 7 (1), Rowan Diaz 7 (4), Lincoln Crawford 5 (1), Pratt Wambeke 4 (2), Breckyn Kobbe 3 (2), Braxton Nelson 3 (3), Kamea Wisniewski 3, Weston Hull 2 (1), Levi Cox 1, Connor Farwell 1, Caleb Ashcraft 1, Eric Aburto 1, Landon McDonald 1, Tanner Seifert 1 (1)

Tackles for loss — Tyler Wenzel 2, Rowan Diaz 2, Kamea Wisniewski 2, Pratt Wambeke 2, Broc Frank 1

Sacks — Pratt Wambeke 2, Tyler Wenzel 1, Rowan Diaz 1, Kamea Wisniewski 1

Pass breakups — Karcher Foley 1

Forced fumble — Broc Frank 1

Fumble recovery — Broc Frank 1, Rowan Diaz 1

Blocked kick — Broc Frank 1