Postseason football kicked off Friday night with the west No. 4 seed Powell Panthers heading on the road to take on the east No. 1 seed Douglas Bearcats — where the Panthers saw multiple 14 point leads in the second half disappear in a 27-21 overtime loss to end the season.

DOUGLAS 27, POWELL 21 (OT)

In the prior matchup between the two teams in September, the Panthers (4-6) gave up the opening kickoff to the Bearcats (8-1) giving the hosts momentum from the start of the game.

A strong opening kickoff appeared to give Douglas another opportunity to put away Powell early, but three disastrous plays in a row gave the Panthers the ball right away.

Powell took advantage of the early possession, moving the ball down the field through aggressive play and a key fourth down throw from Jhett Schwahn to Trey Stenerson.

Case Bradish punched in the ball from 7 yards out, giving Powell the early 7-0 lead.

“We knew we had to play mistake free and had to play as hard as we could every play,” coach Chase Kistler said.

That lead held into the second quarter, but Douglas created a scoring opportunity after converting a third and 14 on a quarterback scramble.

The drive was stopped in its tracks when Trevon Abraham came up with an interception and gave Powell the ball back.

That Powell drive went nowhere, but a muffed punt by Douglas was recovered by Powell to give the Panthers the ball back inside the 15-yard line.

Schwahn’s pass on third down was intercepted by a Bearcat in the back of the end zone to stop any hope of Powell extending the lead beyond 7-0.

On the final drive of the half the Panthers were facing a fourth down, but a fake punt by Schwahn found a pass to Nathan Feller to keep the drive alive.

That drive pushed down the field, but stalled around the edge of Powell’s field goal range.

The 42-yard attempt was on target but came up just short and Powell went into halftime with a 7-0 lead.

“It was just like the first time we played them, we came out with no points on two different trips,” Kistler said. “We were driving and made some good plays but got behind the sticks that led to some difficult play calls.”

Another scoring drive kicked off the second half, led by a strong rushing attack that was again punched in by Bradish at the goalline to make it 14-0 early.

That scoring drive took up half of the third quarter, but after the score the big plays from Douglas started to bite the Panthers.

A three minute drive by Douglas cut the lead in half, making it 14-7 with 3:33 left in the third.

On the next drive, one play stalled before a pass from Schwahn found Stenerson on a post route.

Stenerson hauled in the pass and raced up the field for a 74-yard touchdown to restore the 14 point lead at 21-7.

Another quick answer just a minute later gave Douglas a touchdown, making it 21-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

“When it takes them just one or two plays to score it really takes the air out of you,” Kistler said.

Exchanging drives led to another Powell possession, and the Panthers appeared to be moving the ball up field to try and run out the clock.

A fumble by Keona Wisniewski gave Douglas the ball back.

Powell stopped the Bearcats, and got the ball back with a chance to run out the clock with 6:15 left in the game.

A fourth and 1 call near midfield came up short on a Schwahn sneak — giving Douglas the opportunity to tie the game on its next drive.

The next drive started out with another big play, and was aided after a roughing the passer call tacked on 15 more yards.

The Bearcats finished off the drive with a touchdown, tying the game with 2:22 left.

Powell moved downfield on an Evan Whitlock reception with 1:30 left, but after a no-call on a potential pass interference the Powell drive stopped near midfield.

“There were some big calls that did not go our way, but that’s football — you gotta figure out a way to overcome it,” Kistler said.

A punt and a rush ended regulation, sending the game to overtime.

Douglas got the ball first and scored on the first play, but a missed PAT gave Powell a chance to win with a score and extra point.

The first play was a missed exchange on a handoff, moving Powell back to the 17-yard line instead of the 10.

Schwahn escaped a sack, and a pass to Alex Jordan was caught in the back of the end zone but was ruled out of bounds by the back judge.

Another pass was batted away on third down, and on fourth down the pass fell short and Douglas walked away with a 27-21 victory and ending the Panthers’ season.

SEASON RECAP

Heading into this season, Kistler knew it would be a rebuilding season after graduating seven All-State players just a year ago.

“We knew the seniors had some big shoes to fill this year, and they did a good job — can’t take anything away from them; they played hard,” Kistler said.

The Panthers had some injuries throughout the year that hindered the team, especially in the backfield with starting running backs Cody Seifert and Steven Stambaugh being hurt early in the year.

The season started strong at 2-2, before a difficult 3A West schedule left Powell 4-5 heading into the playoffs.

“I thought we had a positive season for what we had back and for how young we were across the board,” Kistler said.

Powell will lose 10 seniors to graduation this year, but will return a majority of the team next season in the hopes of improving on a 4-6 campaign.