The young Powell Panther football team continued to show strides offensively in a 54-20 loss to Jackson, tying a season high in points but coming up short defensively in the defeat.

JACKSON 54, POWELL 20

Still searching for their first win of the season the Panthers (0-8 overall, 0-4 3A West) made the trip to Jackson to take on the Broncs (6-2 overall, 3-1 3A West).

Jackson got on the board first on a 1-yard touchdown pass, making it 6-0 with 8:17 left in the first quarter after a failed 2-point conversion.

On its next drive the Panthers threw an interception, but immediately got the ball back when Braxton Nelson intercepted the next pass in the end zone for a touchback.

Powell then drove down the field and scored a touchdown of its own, as Lincoln Crawford raced towards the end zone from 18 yards out and made it a 7-6 game after an extra point — the first lead of the season for the Panthers.

“The first quarter was great,” coach Chase Kistler said.

Jackson responded, scoring on a 26-yard pass to regain the lead just before the end of the quarter.

Powell fumbled on its next possession, and the Broncs took advantage early in the second with a 34-yard touchdown pass.

“Their two receivers are seniors, and they’re fast,” Kistler said. “They’ve got some great speed, and their quarterback was very accurate on the long ball and they committed to it. There were times that they were just throwing fade after fade and coming right back to it until they actually completed it.”

Jackson added two more scores in the second quarter from 1 yard and then 68 yards out just before the halftime break as the Broncs led 33-6 going into the break.

“It was a good start, and then we just had that moment of, ‘oh no’ in the second quarter. Next thing you know we’re down 26-7 after only a few minutes of gameplay,” Kistler said.

In the third quarter the Broncs scored a touchdown on their opening drive with an 18-yard pass, before the Panthers finally got on the board again.

Tanner Seifert scored on a 3-yard quarterback keeper on a rollout to make it 40-14 with 3:43 left in the third.

Jackson quickly responded with a 47-yard touchdown pass, before Powell again started to drive.

The Panthers held the ball until the start of the fourth, before a turnover on downs started the final frame.

Powell got the ball back on a fumble recovery on the next play, and Crawford raced into the end zone from 15 yards out to make it 47-20 after a missed extra point.

Jackson got its final touchdown on a 31-yard rush with 7:47 left in the game to make the final score 54-20.

“We really improved big time offensively, had over 200 yards rushing and 175 yards passing, we scored 20 points and we left two opportunities out on the field that we were in scoring range that we left points out there,” Kistler said. “I was really impressed, and we only had one penalty for 10 yards offensively. I saw a huge improvement. Defensively, we’re still doing a great job of starting to stop the run, but our secondary gave up some big plays which hurts us in the long run.”

Crawford finished with 205 yards on the ground on 32 carries, while Seifert went 9-23 through the air for 171 yards.

Breckyn Kobbe hauled in two passes for 62 yards to lead Powell, while Nelson led with five tackles, three solo, alongside Pratt Wambeke who also had five tackles, three solo.

FINAL GAME FRIDAY

With the loss to Jackson on Friday Powell was officially eliminated from postseason contention, leaving the Panthers hoping to end the season on a high note with a game against the visiting Evanston Red Devils (1-7 overall, 0-4 3A West) at 6 p.m. Friday.

“I just want our guys to play a complete game where offensively we move the ball and pick up first downs and put points on the board. And defensively, we stop their run,” Kistler said. “I want to see us get better for the last game, send our seniors out on a great note with a win and just play a complete game. I know we’ve seen bits and pieces of it, now we just want to play a whole four quarters.”

JACKSON 54, POWELL 20

Total tackles then solo tackles in ()

Passing — Tanner Seifert 9-23, 171 yards, 1 interception; Karcher Foley 1-2, 3 yards

Rushing — Lincoln Crawford 32-205, 2 touchdowns; Tyler Wenzel, 2-13; Rowan Diaz 1-0; Karcher Foley 6 for negative 1 yards; Tanner Seifert 2 for negative 11 yards, 1 touchdown

Receiving — Breckyn Kobbe 2-62, Braxton Nelson 2-50, Rowan Diaz 3-22, Broc Frank 2-19, Tyler Wenzel 1-21

Tackles — Braxton Nelson 5 (3), Pratt Wambeke 5 (3), Broc Frank 4 (1), Kamea Wisniewski 3, Karcher Foley 3, Dominik Bieber 3 (1), Lincoln Crawford 3 (1), Tyler Wenzel 3 (2), Brayden Benander 3 (2), Gabe McMillin 2 (1), Connor Farwell 2, Sean Lowe 1, Jonathan Hine 1, Jacob Christofalos 1, Weston Hull 1

Pass breakups — Tanner Seifert 1

Forced fumbles — Sean Lowe 1

Fumble Recoveries — Sean Lowe 1

Interceptions — Braxton Nelson 1