Panthers stomp Chiefs 62-22

The Saratoga High School Panthers broke out another 40-or-more-point win Friday evening, crushing Wyoming Indian’s Chiefs 62-22.

The home-game triumph was another impressive, wide-lead addition to the 2013 Panther record, after their first-game win of 58-12 over Little Snake River. Fans could tell Friday’s battle against the Chiefs was already Panther-owned by the end of the first quarter, since by that point they were already up 24-0 from the aid of Tate Stinson’s three touchdowns. Rodrigo Escobedo also managed a successful PAT (point after touchdown) kick after each touchdown scored.

The second quarter saw yet another successful touchdown by Stinson and PAT kick by Escobedo, bringing the score up to 32-0. Kyle Bartlett and Ryan Malone scored two more touchdowns and both were followed by Escobedo’s killer foot power.

Surprisingly, Wyoming Indian didn’t score its first touchdown until six-and-a-half minutes left in the second quarter, but with a score of 48-6, it seemed unlikely they could catch up or take over at that point in the game. Sure enough, the Panther reign continued on throughout the rest of the game, with touchdown after touchdown being scored.

Despite the size advantage of the Wyoming Indians, the Saratoga Panthers out- maneuvered the Chiefs.

Other major scorers for the game were new freshman Alex Ziegler, with two touchdowns, and Escobedo, who scored one touchdown in addition to his eight successful PAT kicks. Stinson scored the most touchdowns for the team, with a total of four.

Coach Scott Bokelman said he was quite happy and impressed with the Panthers’ 40-point win, but was at first intimidated by the large size of Wyoming’s Indian’s players. However, once they got out on the field, the Panthers’ quickness and tackling strategies proved to overpower the towering brawn of the Chiefs.

“I was worried about that because they have some big kids, and they’re a load to bring down,” Bokelman said. “However, if you tackle low and gang tackle you can still get the job done, and I was pretty happy with that. Our defense really played well, special teams played well and offense played well.”

Bokelman also commended Malone, Stinson and Thatcher Spiering for their great game play and teamwork in time of need. Malone had still been recovering from a slightly pulled hamstring during Friday’s game.

“With Ryan hurt, Tate has to play a bigger role, but Ryan did a great job blocking for him,” he said. “Tate wouldn’t have scored one of the touchdowns without Ryan’s block on the perimeter, getting the guy hooked inside. It takes everybody, and Tate has good speed and is running the ball well. Thatcher is also doing a fantastic job running our quarterback position.”

Also praised by Bokelman were first-year player Ziegler, who pulled in two touchdowns, and Escobedo for his spectacular winning PAT kicks.

“Alex, for a freshman, is playing really well, and I think it’s the first time he’s played football,” Bokelman said. “He’s a good athlete and he’s fast, and in this game speed makes a difference. Rodrigo also did well on our PATs, and I don’t think we missed any, which is huge also. The snap is good, the holder is good and the protection is good, and we work hard on that in practice. We want to keep that going too, because that could turn out to be a difference in a game also.”

Even with two games in which the Panthers won by 40 or more points, Bokelman said the team also needs to work on football basics to prepare for what may lie ahead. The team’s next game is against Midwest, which Bokelman said is a top-rated team.

“We still have to work on position, blocking and tackling, and we’ve got to do a better job of blocking at the point of where we’re trying to get the football,” he said. “We weren’t as successful at running quick pitches ... and though we had some good yardage, there were times when we were getting stuffed also. We’ve got to mix a little power-game in, so we’re going to try to figure that out. It’s different in six-man football, so it will be harder to make that work.”

Bokelman said he is also excited to show more of the magic his players have in them next week.

“We didn’t show a lot of stuff that we do yet (at Friday’s game), and we only showed maybe two formations,” he said. “We’ve got some other things we can do that we’ll show later on when we need to. It’s going to get a little more complicated as we go from here, and each week we’ll thrown in a few more plays and another formation. But if some things are clicking and you don’t need to change it, we’re not going to.”

The Panthers play at Midwest this Friday, in what is expected to be another winning game for them.