The regular season is now complete for Panther football. With those first eight games in the rearview, the focus has shifted to defeating Lander Valley in the quarterfinals.

Powell High School will head to Lander — the No. 2 seed in Class 3A East — on Friday for a 5 p.m. contest. In the teams’ meeting on Sept. 11, Powell ran away with a 31-0 win, backed by a stellar defensive performance and efficient offense.

The Panthers also faced Lander Valley in the quarterfinal round of last year’s playoffs, cruising to a 41-14 victory on the road. With two wins over the Tigers in the calendar year, they are a familiar foe.

“It’s very familiar, so now we just have to take care of business,” said PHS head coach Chase Kistler.

LVHS finished the 2020 regular season 7-2 overall, winning four of its last five games. The Tigers’ only two defeats came against Powell and Douglas. Powell enters the playoffs with a 6-2 record, claiming the No. 3 seed from 3A West.

By the numbers:

207: Like many of the Panthers’ games this year, a strong rushing attack fueled the offense against Lander the first time around. The team combined for 207 yards on the ground, with Riley Bennett’s 95 yards leading the way. Three of the Panthers’ four touchdowns were rushing as well.

3: Similar to Powell’s most recent game against Evanston, the Panthers dominated the turnover margin against Lander back in September. They recovered three fumbles and even blocked a field-goal attempt. On the flip side, PHS didn’t turn the ball over once on offense. It’s hard to lose when a team controls the turnover margin like that.

240: LVHS running back Eli Mazurie had one of the best individual rushing performances of the 2020 3A season against Riverton on Oct. 9. He rushed for 240 yards on 24 touches, averaging 10 yards per carry. Mazurie was the team’s leading rusher against Powell in September, but the Panther defense limited his production to 78 yards.

9.95: Powell’s stingy defense has held opponents under double digits in six of the Panthers’ nine games. Their first meeting with the Tigers was one of them and Powell’s 50-0 rout of Evanston was the most recent. On average, the Panthers have given up 9.95 points per contest.

6: Of Lander Valley’s seven wins, six came by double digits. Most recently, the Tigers sailed to a 38-14 win over Buffalo on senior night. Their widest margin came in their opener against Pinedale, when they defeated the Wranglers 35-0.