Panther offense continues to struggle

The Saratoga Panthers (0-4, 0-3) Football Team continue their woes after a 0-53 loss to the Shoshoni Wranglers (1-3, 1-1) last Friday.

“We just didn’t play very well at all,” Bokelman said.

The Panthers special teams struggled throughout the game. The Panthers fumbled the ball on the opening kickoff, which they managed to recover for a touchback. However, the Wranglers went on to block two of the Panthers’ punts, which set the Wranglers up for scoring drives. Bokelman said the blocked punts broke the spirit of his team.

“It just went downhill from there,” he said. “Their kids started gaining confidence, and our kids started losing it.”

The Panthers’ lack of depth is starting to hurt the team’s performance. Bokelman said many players were out with injuries or did not have enough practices in. Players who played in the junior varsity game earlier in the week were forced to play again Friday to fill in for varsity roles.

“Without much depth, we have to find some way to be competitive,” Bokelman said. “From a coaching standpoint, it’s been a challenge.”

Bokelman said the team had more success moving the football against Shoshoni than against Rocky Mountain by spreading the offense out. However, Saratoga’s offense continues to stumble with their second straight shutout loss. The Panther offense averages a lowly 5.25 points per game, while the defense has given up 44 points per game.

With the Panthers still winless, and the season halfway done, the biggest challenge for Bokelman and his coaching staff is keeping his players motivated. Bokelman said his team is focusing the positives, including improving every game.

“It’s pretty easy to stay positive when you are winning … but now we have to find a way to focus on the little victories to make it fun for these kids,” Bokelman said.

He said he sees improvement from his young offensive line, but they still have a lot of room for improvement.

The road for the Panthers will continue to be bumpy when they take on the pass-happy Riverside Rebels (Basin, WY) (2-2, 2-1) on Friday. Rebels quarterback Cole Hill leads all of 1A 11-man football in passing yards and yards per game. Bokelman believes his team can have some success against the passing attack.

“We haven’t faced a team that has passed that much,” Bokelman said.

Bokelman is hoping to continue to spread the offense out more, however, he said his team will likely turn to some power-run plays between the tackles as well.

Kickoff begins at 6 p.m. Friday at the Saratoga High School football field.