Panthers Feel the Rush of the Cyclones

As their season of firsts comes to an end, the Saratoga Panthers made it to the 9-man playoffs for the first time since 2020 under [then] Head Coach Logan Wright.

The Panthers had possibly one of their best seasons in 40 years catching a win over Lusk [first in 20 years] and a win over Wright overcoming a low scoring game battle putting double digits on the board.

The Panthers have earned a playoff berth as the 4th seed heading into the post season prior to even competing in Lingle-Fort Laramie next Friday.

“This week we are planning to play our younger guys against Lingle-Ft. Laramie so our varsity guys can rest and heal up from all the bumps and bruises [occuring during regular season],” said Head Coach Jared Mason.

Saratoga lost their homecoming game against the Southeast Cyclones 24-35 on Friday, October 20.

Quarterback Jace Westring was ready to compete with an impressive 190 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns and only 1 interception.

The hard fought game saw standouts in Hazen Williams with 42 yards rushing, 38 yards receiving and 7 solo defensive tackles. Griffin Bartlett received for 87 yards, made 1 touchdown and caught 1 interception. Brody Johnson scored 2 touchdowns with 39 rushing yards and 65 yards receiving.

“I was very pleased with the effort of our team on Friday night, and it was a tough homecoming loss for all of us,” said Mason. “I felt the boys played their hearts out and left it on the field.”

Injuries occurred during the game sidelining Hunter Johnston and Douglas Anderson.

“We lost a couple more players due to injuries in the game, which I felt was the difference between us winning and losing as we struggled to stop the Southeast running game in the second half,” said Mason.

The varsity team will take the next week off in preparation for the playoffs — dates and times to be announced.

The Junior Varsity will play on October 25 in Lingle-Fort Laramie at 6 pm.