The Powell Panther football team fell to the Cody Broncs 56-13 in a road rivalry game Friday, where the young Panthers showed promise at times but big plays proved to be the difference in the loss.

CODY 56, POWELL 13

Heading on the road for their first conference game, the Panthers (0-5 overall, 0-1 3A West) matched up with the Broncs (4-0 overall, 1-0 3A West) and fell behind early.

The first points of the game came from the second play from scrimmage on a 15-yard touchdown pass, giving Cody a 6-0 lead after a missed conversion.

Powell was unable to move the ball on its first possession, punting it back to Cody, which took advantage of its explosive play ability to add to its lead.

A 36-yard touchdown run made it 14-0 following a successful 2-point conversion with 6:53 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers started moving the ball on their second drive, but a snap over the quarterback’s head stalled any momentum before Powell punted the ball.

Powell’s defense stood tall and stopped the Broncs near midfield with 2:20 left, taking over on offense and later converting a fourth down to Caleb Ashcraft with 1:30 left in the quarter.

Powell again was unable to find points, before Cody scored early in the second quarter on a 44-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0.

“For the most part we were playing more solid throughout the game. We’re still giving up those big plays though, and a lot of those big plays came off a missed tackle where we had our opportunities in the backfield. Our guys were in the position they needed to be, and we just didn’t make the tackles,” coach Chase Kistler said.

The Panthers continued to stay in the game through their secondary, thanks to picks on two separate drives by Braxton Nelson with 8:23 left and Brayden Benander with 6:08 left in the half.

Powell moved following Benander’s interception, but penalties pushed the Panthers back to a first and 35.

The Panthers gained some yards back, and attempted a fake punt which was converted, but offsetting penalties by both teams brought the conversion back.

Cody got the ball back and took advantage, scoring on a 38-yard run to make it 28-0.

Powell again stalled and punted back to Cody, but the Panthers stopped the Broncs again thanks to an interception by Breckyn Kobbe as Powell still trailed 28-0 at the break.

“I thought we did a good job in the secondary,” Kistler said. “All-around I was happier with the way they improved from one week to the next.”

Cody got two more touchdown runs of 16 and 7 yards early in the third quarter to make it 42-0 before the Panthers finally got on the board.

A quick drive was capped off by a 27-yard touchdown run by Karcher Foley to make it 42-7 with four minutes left in the third quarter.

Cody immediately answered, taking the kickoff back deep in Powell territory before a one-play, 18-yard touchdown run made it 49-7.

Cody got its final points at the start of the fourth quarter on a 30-yard touchdown pass, and Powell got its final points on a 66-yeard touchdown pass from Foley to Lincoln Crawford at the buzzer to make the final score 56-13.

“For the most part I was impressed. I thought we played better this week than we have all year against a lot better team,” Kistler said. “Cody is definitely one of the top teams. I think we actually played a lot better than we had the first four weeks all around defensively and offensively. I thought defensively we were a little bit more aggressive, attacking downhill instead of just missing a bunch of open field tackles or waiting for them to just run to us.”

Tanner Seifert went 17-36 for 117 yards while Foley went 2-5 for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Foley added 40 yards on the ground on nine attempts with a touchdown.

Crawford led the Panthers with 66 yards receiving.

Broc Frank led Powell with eight tackles, and Weston Hull had two tackles for loss.

STAR VALLEY FRIDAY

Powell heads on the road on Friday, taking on the Braves (5-0 overall, 1-0 3A West), who are the three-time defending state champions and currently on a 26-game winning streak.

“Star Valley, they have a great team there,” Kistler said. “We’re still focusing on us. We’ve got to learn how to compete at that level. We’re young, we’re thin (due to injuries) but it’s who we are, and we’ve got to learn to compete with those things working against us … Star Valley is full of big plays … We’ve got to work on being disciplined on defense, still tackling is a big thing, playing downhill. Then offensively, we’ve got to get a balance because last game we threw the ball a lot and we’ve got to find a way to get a balance of some run plays to get some positive yards.”

CODY 56, POWELL 13

Total tackles then solo tackles in ()

Passing — Tanner Seifert 17-36 117 yards; Karcher Foley 2-5 73 yards, 1 touchdown

Rushing — Karcher Foley 9-40, 1 touchdown; Lincoln Crawford 7-32; Rowan Diaz 4-13

Receiving — Lincoln Crawford 2-66, 1 touchdown; David Yates 5-33; Breckyn Kobbe 4-33; Broc Frank 2-18; Tyler Wenzel 2-18; Caleb Ashcraft 3-13; Rowan Diaz 1-9

Tackling — Broc Frank 8 (2), Bradlee Lasson 7 (2), Lincoln Crawford 7 (3), Tyler Wenzel 6 (2), Caleb Ashcraft 6 (4), Brayden Benander 5 (4), Weston Hull 5, Kamea Wisniewski 5 (1), Karcher Foley 3 (2), Braxton Nelson 3 (1), Breckyn Kobbe 3 (1), Connor Farwell 3 (1), Jacob Christofalos 3 (2), Rowan Diaz 2 (1), Sean Lowe 2 (1)

Tackles for loss — Weston Hull 2, Bradlee Lasson 1, Broc Frank 1, Kamea Wisniewski 1

Pass breakup — Lincoln Crawford 1, Karcher Foley 1

Interceptions — Brayden Benander 1, Braxton Nelson 1, Breckyn Kobbe 1