A long road trip to take on the three-time defending state champions in Afton resulted in another loss for the Powell Panthers, who fell 61-0 to the Star Valley Braves on Friday.

STAR VALLEY 61, POWELL 0

The Panthers (0-6 overall, 0-2 3A West) got off to a poor start against the Braves (6-0 overall, 2-0 3A West), when the opening kickoff was returned 95 yards for a touchdown.

“We came out and the kickoff right at the start of the game was just like a dagger to the heart kind of thing,” coach Chase Kistler said. “It was just not a great start and then it just snowballed after that.”

After a punt, it took the Braves just two plays to add to the lead and make it 14-0.

Another punt was followed by a quick drive by the Braves for another touchdown and it was 20-0 inside the first five minutes of the game.

Powell’s next punt was fielded and returned for a touchdown, before an interception on the ensuing drive was returned for a touchdown and made it 33-0 with 3:40 left in the first quarter.

Star Valley scored again to start the second on another pass, and a long touchdown run followed to make it 48-0 less than two minutes into the second quarter.

A Powell fumble on the next play from scrimmage was returned for a touchdown, and Star Valley led 55-0.

The Braves tacked on one more field goal before halftime and made it 58-0 at the break.

In the third quarter the Panthers held the ball for 10 minutes with a running clock, getting their first down of the game and moving past midfield before punting it back to the Braves.

Star Valley added a field goal midway through the fourth quarter to make it a 61-0 scoreline.

“I told them, you guys have gone through the absolute gauntlet,” Kistler said. “Every single game we’ve played other than Worland has been a top five team. The last three games have just been all out, physical battles. We’ve had so many guys rotating positions that I do feel that our guys, they’re trying to find a way to get better each week. I think this week, against a team like Star Valley, it’s only going to help them, in terms of game speed because they are so fast, big and strong.”

HOME CONTEST

Powell returns home this week, beginning a set of games  the Panthers believe could be winnable to end the year with the Panthers hopefully welcoming back some key players this week.

“We have a freshman game and a varsity game on Friday, so we have all week to prep at home … We’re not worried about travel and we should be getting back, I hope, a lot of guys this week,” Kistler said. “It’d be nice to get them all back, but we just have to wait and see what the injury status is with their physical therapists or trainers.”

Powell starts the final three game stretch of the season against Green River (2-4 overall, 1-1 3A West) at 6 p.m. on Friday, as the Panthers will try to take what they have learned from their difficult schedule to seek their first win of the year.

“We know that our backs are against the wall, we have to find a way to win two of the last three games if we want to have an extra game this year,” Kistler said. “They’re (Green River) a lot like us. They’ve got some guys that are pretty tough kids. They get off the ball, pretty quick. A few of their guys look like they’ve got some speed, not a whole lot of size … It’s going to be a dogfight. We’re gonna have to play well to beat them. They just almost beat Jackson and they beat Evanston. If we could take down Green River that gives us a different thought in our head that we can get the next two.”