Young Panthers fall to Outlaws

The young Saratoga Middle School Panthers showed drive and determination at its second home game Thursday, in which they lost 50-20 against the Rawlins Outlaws.

Coach Matt Shelby said his team made up of 22 sixth-through-eighth graders started off strong, but that the second half of the game was when they slipped and let the Outlaws take over.

“When we play every first half it’s always been close, but in the second half, even though we condition all the time, it seems like we just get tired,” he said. “It seems like we just got tired again and got worked, and when our line got out-played and they started scoring, we just gave up then. Rawlins kept playing hard and is a good team, and we have sixth-graders, so it’s sometimes hard to compete. It’s also hard to stack up against bigger schools, but we have some size too, so we should have been closer.”

Even with the 30-point loss, Shelby said the boys have shown improvement during practice and previous games.

“Our running backs ran a lot harder last week, and we’re kind of getting more physical,” he said. “We had some turnovers last week, and we were holding onto the ball more. Our passing game is pretty good, and I had a few players who had some hits for this game. Rawlins just worked really hard and wanted to win, and I think we just need to be more mentally prepared next week.”

Shelby said standout players of the game included eighth-graders Tyler Shotwell, Ben Fairbanks and Bryce Roberts, who scored two of the team’s touchdowns. Shelby said he now looks forward to what may happen for the rest of the team’s playing season, which ends Friday.

“Our season record is now 1-2 in 11-man football, and we played one 6-man game which we lost,” Shelby said. “That was our first game against Baggs, but we beat Laramie a couple of weeks ago. We still have two more games next week.”

The SMS Panthers played Laramie Tuesday, and are set to play a home game against Walden, Colo. this Friday. Scores from Tuesday’s game were not available at press time.

 

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