It was hot at Poca this past Saturday as the Panthers began the 2018 season with their first scrimmage against the Dots of Poca.
Once the handshakes, hugs and prayer were over it was time for football; all bets were off and no quarter was given. As most people know, the scrimmage is an opportunity to get the bugs out of your game and get used to cracking your helmets prior to the season starting. Coaches on both sides of the grass watched as their teams got rid of early season jitters and took unfriendly hits for the first time this season.
The Panthers, well there is no easy way to put it – if bad football was worth money, Saturday’s game would have netted a fortune. Simply said, Saturday was not a good day for the Panthers. Their defense and offense had a tough time stopping and moving the ball against the Dots. The Dots came out playing like it was the last game of the playoffs, and the Panthers couldn’t contain their enthusiasm. The Panthers have a smaller line this season and had a tough time not collapsing like cardboard under a dozer track under the combined weight of the line of the Dots. The line, as any football game fan knows, is the make or break between a win or a loss. It is where walls are built and tore down at the same time, the blood line, the final straw, the line drawn in the sand. A team without a good line is like building a house on sand. There was some highlights in the game that gave hope that it may have just been an off day for the Panthers. Let’s hope so.
Despite the issues, I saw a team that was fired up to get the season underway and to prove that the Panther team is alive and well even though sometimes it just doesn’t go like the plan says.
The Panther team is full of talent, and even though the size is not there on the line, they have to figure out how to use their speed to their advantage. When that happens, they will be tough to beat. If, however, a can of Raid doesn’t kill the bugs, it could be a long season.
The Panthers will no doubt bring their best to the gridiron in the 2018 season. Win or lose, this will be the last year they will play on their home field as it is. A new field will begin soon after this season is over if all the stars line up in the Milky Way. Head coach Jason Nichols, along with a good coaching staff to back him up, will implement some new strategies after this scrimmage, and by the first game, the coaches will be ready to set the Panthers free to put some wins on the board. It will take some work, but the talent is there. This scrimmage was just a learning curve, a bump in the road, if you will.
Don’t let this year pass by without supporting the team, the band and the cheerleaders. The Panthers will play once again this Saturday against Midland Trail in another scrimmage before the regular season gets underway, so come out and support our youth, they deserve it. While we eat nachos on the sidelines, they smash heads on the field. Go Panthers!
