A season that was filled with many highs and lows saw a pair of Powell Panther boys’ senior soccer players earn All-State honors, as Chance Franks earned his third straight honor and Tevon Schultz earned his first in his return to the field.

THIRD IN A ROW

It was a season in which Franks experienced a variety of highs and lows on the field, as he was the leading creator throughout the season for the Panthers offensively before a difficult injury struck late in the season.

Despite missing the final five games of the season after injuring his shoulder in a game against Cody in April, Franks finished the season with 17 goals.

Earning All-State for a third year in a row is a feat in itself, but coach David Gilliatt said Franks was one of the few players deserving of being a four-time selection.

“Chance is arguably deserving of being All-State all four years of high school, but it is a very rare thing to get awarded as a freshman,” Gilliatt said. “Even being injured during the season, he was our high scorer and his stats put him on the leaderboard for goals and assists.”

His late season injury led to Franks being unable to compete at the state tournament, which Gilliatt believes gave some teams a sense of relief — he said he didn’t need to argue for Franks making All-State despite the injury.

“I think all the coaches across the state know him and were glad to not see him appear on the field at the state tournament. It was an easy task at the coaches’ meeting to argue that he was still deserving of All-State honors this year,” Gilliatt said.

Franks was able to see the field one last time in the waning minutes of the state tournament, subbing in at the end of the Buffalo consolation final. Gilliatt said the program will miss him moving forward as Franks moves onto the collegiate level.

“We will miss his physicality, defensive presence, passing and goal scoring,” Gilliatt said. “We will also miss the contributions he made as a leader and captain on the team. We wish him all the best in his college season at Casper College.”

FIRST TIME HONOR

Heading into this past season, Schultz had not played soccer at the high school level, having been a part of the Panther track team in the spring.

Schultz decided to return to the pitch for his senior season, using his height to serve as one of the center backs for the Panthers.

“It was really great to have Tevon come out for soccer this year,” Gilliatt said. “He put in a lot of work before the season started and improved greatly in a short period of time.”

Gilliatt said the natural athleticism of Schultz allowed him to transition into his position quickly as part of a defensive line that held teams scoreless five times throughout the season and kept the Panthers in games late in the season following Franks’ injury.

“He’s very naturally athletic and has great speed and timing, but he also has no fear, which helps him greatly in his role. I was very proud of his progress and thought he was very deserving of recognition as well,” Gilliatt said. “Clearly, the other coaches agreed with that conclusion.”

Schultz was an athletic threat on corner kicks and was able to hold a strong shape in the back line alongside his running mate Landon Hernandez.

“Tevon made very few errors and saved us countless times with important tackles, shot blocks or pass interceptions,” Gilliatt said. “I think some credit should also go to Landon who did a good job of organizing our back line and communicating to Tevon where he needed to be and what decisions to make.”

Gilliatt added that Schultz was very coachable throughout the season and was able to continually improve throughout.

“Credit to Tevon, he is extremely coachable and had good instincts to improve when needed,” Gilliatt said. “We will really miss his aggression and defensive presence in our back line.”

He added that he was proud of the whole team for the season, qualifying for state and overcoming adversity throughout.