Tthe Powell Panthers came up short against the top team in the state, as the Star Valley Braves blew past the Panthers 42-7 at Powell’s homecoming.

STAR VALLEY 42, POWELL 7

Welcoming in their second straight tough opponent to Powell the Panthers (3-3 overall, 0-2 3A West) were looking to play spoiler against the Braves (6-0 overall, 2-0 3A West) and snap their 15 game winning streak.

An early turnover helped the Panthers slow down the Braves, as Jordan Loera forced a fumble on fourth down and Doug Bettger recovered to give Powell the ball.

“Jordan’s really turned into a great receiver and one of our best secondaries at this point,” coach Chase Kistler said.

Unfortunately the Panthers offense did not go far, and punted the ball right back to the Braves.

Star Valley got on the board first via a 36-yard touchdown pass, making it 7-0 with 6:22 left in the first.

Powell once again was unable to move the ball, and eventually a poor punt gave the Braves the ball inside the Panther 30-yard line.

Fortunately for Powell, three straight sacks by the Panthers moved Star Valley back behind midfield and forced the visitors to punt.

“I thought our guys up front got pressure on him [Braves quarterback Smith McClure],” Kistler said. “They sacked him, that’s probably the most I’ve seen him on the ground than any other team on film. We just couldn’t cover their guys.”

Star Valley continued to sling it through the air in the second quarter as Powell’s offense struggled to move.

The Braves scored again on a 15-yard strike to extend their advantage to 14-0.

A short while later the Braves found the end zone again, this time on a 3-yard pass to make it 21-0 with 4:09 left in the half.

Another poor punt late in the half gave Star Valley the ball at Powell’s 35-yard line, and the Braves took advantage of field position one more time.

The Braves punched it in from 1 yard out on a run to make it 28-0 at the break.

In the second half the Panthers started out with an explosive play of their own, when Alex Jordan took the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-7.

Star Valley answered on its next drive, scoring on a 21-yard touchdown pass to make it 35-7 and put a stop to any momentum the Panthers had.

Powell’s lone turnover of the game came on a fumbled exchange in the third quarter, but neither team found the end zone the remainder of the third quarter.

Star Valley got the last score with 10:55 remaining in the fourth quarter on another 1-yard run, as the Braves finished with a 42-7 victory.

“I’m not going to take anything away from them, but we’ve played a lot more physical games,” Kistler said. “We’re just really short handed … Thank goodness we got (Nathan) Preator out this week [from tennis]. I can see him doing big things for us.”

The Panther offense was limited to just 111 yards, with Keona Wisniewski going 7-23 for 47 yards through the air and Cody Seifert leading on the ground with 27 yards on 11 carries.

Star Valley’s Bryson Nield ended the night with a state record for receiving yards in 11-man football, finishing with 287 yards on 18 catches. That broke a state record of 281 yards set in 1998 by Glenrock’s Brady Mangus according to Wyoming-football.com.

ROAD CONTEST

Powell now heads on the road after the two home contests, seeking a first victory in the conference to get back on track while continuing to get players back from injury.

The Panthers will be looking for that first victory on Friday at 6 p.m. taking on the only other winless team in the 3A West, the Green River Wolves (1-5 overall, 0-2 3A West).

“We got to just get back to controlling the ball, controlling the clock and just being in control of our own fate,” Kistler said. “We got to get a lot better at sustaining drives. We’ve just got to get better to finish out this season.”

Powell will return home the following Friday for its final home game against the Jackson Broncs as the Panthers look to make a late push for the playoffs.

STAR VALLEY 42, POWELL 7

Total tackles then solo tackles in ()

Passing — Keona Wisniewski 7-23, 47 yards

Rushing — Cody Seifert 11-27, Keona Wisniewski 5-15, Trevon Abraham 6-13, McKale Foley 4-9

Receiving — Alex Jordan 2-16, Trevon Abraham 1-13, Jordan Loera 2-11, Broc Frank 2-7

Tackles — Trevon Abraham 10 (7), Keona Wisniewski 9 (7), Jordan Loera 9 (6), McKale Foley 6 (1), Tyler Wenzel 4 (1), Doug Bettger 4, Caleb Ashcraft 4 (4), Nathan Preator 4 (3), Alan Crawford 3 (1), Jacob Eaton 2, Dusty Carter 2 (1), Lincoln Crawford 2 (2), Broc Frank 1 (1), Cody Seifert 1 (1), Tucker Oliver 1 (1)

Tackles for loss — Keona Wisniewski 1, Dough Bettger 1, Alan Crawford 1, Dusty Carter 1

Sacks — Keona Wisniewski 1, Dough Bettger 1, Alan Crawford 1, Dusty Carter 1

Pass breakups — Jordan Loera 3

Forced fumbles — Jordan Loera 1

Fumble recoveries — Doug Bettger 1