Panthers suffer 26-40 Homecoming loss

The Saratoga High School Panthers underwent a tough Homecoming loss in football Monday, suffering a close 26-40 takedown by the Kaycee Buckaroos.

The Panthers did come close to leading in the second half after Tate Stinson made his second touchdown of the game, followed by a successful PAT kick from Rodrigo Escobedo. This brought the score to 34-26, Kaycee’s lead, and the Panthers still had time to catch up or take over in the fourth quarter.

With less than six minutes left in the game, coach Scott Bokelman said his boys needed to get and keep the ball in their possession to at least tie the Buckaroos.

“We were down by eight points, with five minutes and 30 seconds left, and we needed to get a stop and get the ball back,” Bokelman said. “It was kind of like we weren’t firing like we normally were.”

Bokelman said the Panthers also need to focus more on basics such as blocking and tackling during the game.

“We worked basic football, the tackling, blocking and things you need to do in this game to make progress,” he said. “However, early I didn’t think we were blocking very well, so we couldn’t make any yards on offense, and in the second half we weren’t tackling very well. We’ve got to put it all together to be competitive with the big boys.”

Monday’s loss brings the Panthers to 3-2 (non-conference) and 1-2 (conference) for their 2013 season records thus far. Bokelman said he has watched his boys continue to play hard amidst tough competition.

“When we go hard and everyone takes care and does their job we’re pretty good, but when someone loses that mental edge for a second or a play or whatever, in six-man it becomes a big play,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep working on playing 100 percent all the time, and when we do that and stay focused, we’re a pretty good football team. We just need to keep plugging away in practice and keep talking and preaching, and with game experience hopefully we’ll get better and better.”

The Panthers will now see how they fare against Hulett in a fourth home game matchup Friday. The game begins at 6 p.m. on the Panther high school field.

“Hulett is as good if not better than these guys, so it’s going to be a challenge for us,” Bokelman said.

Saratoga vs. Kaycee- 10/7/13

Touchdowns

Kyle Bartlett (1)

Tate Stinson (2)

Field goals

Rodrigo Escobedo (1)

PAT kicks

Rodrigo Escobedo (2)