By Allen Hamrick
This past Monday was opening night for the first game played on the million-dollar turf. The champagne bottle was prepared for the christening and the field looked good enough to eat on. The Panther JV would do the honors of breaking it in with an actual game. They butted heads with the Nicholas County Grizzly JV, and it was going to be a tough one for sure. The JV Panthers hit the field and immediately looked like the wheels were about to come off. The Panthers were having a challenging time getting the ball snapped without scrambling for it. Both defenses settled in and played some good football as the Grizzly JV was first on the board with a kind of trick play to get into the end zone. The Panther JV also got on the boards as the defense crowded the Grizzlies into the end zone for a safety.
By the half, the score stood at 2-8 Grizzlies. After that it was pretty much the same thing as the Panthers still struggled under center getting the ball snapped properly. The Panther defense did a good job, but the offense just could not capitalize on Grizzly mistakes.
When it was over the new field had its first loss, and the Panther JV lost the game 2-16. Mistakes will cost a team, and the cost was touchdowns. The Panther JV will have some figuring to do before the Raider JV comes to town on Monday evening.
