Friday night was football night in Gold Beach as the Panthers hosted the the Myrtle Point Bobcats. The Panthers went into the game sitting 2-1 and coming off a big win facing a 2-2 Bobcat team looking to advance in league play.
The Panthers wasted no time in the opening period of play driving down inside the 10 yard line before junior Jake Westerman #7 took the hand-off and ran a sweep to the right corner of the end-zone to put the Panthers up 7-0 with 7:23 in the first.
After receiving the ensuing kick-off, the Bobcats drove 65 yards to put Myrtle Point on the scoreboard 8-6, and after a Gold Beach failed 4th down conversion, the Bobcats scored again 56 yards later with 1:37 left in the first period.
The Bobcat’s would score once more at the start the 2nd period taking a 8-20 lead before the Panthers would answer when senior quarterback Trenton Storns #13 got to the outside, and outran the field 70 yards for a Panther touchdown, making the score 16-20 with 8:50 in the 2nd period.
The Panthers would score again with about a minute left in the half taking a 22-20 lead, but the Bobcats would strike deep, scoring on a 40 yard pass to score and take a 22-28 lead into the locker room at the halftime break.
The Panther defensive line kept the Bobcat run game in check, but big plays over the top and some unlucky bounces kept the Panthers trailing. A Gold Beach turn over on an interception would lead to another Bobcat touchdown with 9:36 in the 3rd, extending Myrtle Point’s lead to 22-34.
Sophomore Jake Westerman #7 would score again late for the Panthers, closing the gap to 30-34, before the Bobcats would score once again, to take the hard fought win 30-42.
Panther head coach Chris Higgins spoke with the Wild Coast Compass after the game saying “It was a tough night for us tonight…we’re not sure if our bye week was good for us or bad for us” he said. “We will look at film with the staff and we will continue to get better on the things that went wrong tonight… tough loss for Panther football, but my staff and my kids are resilient, and we will bounce back from this”.
The Panthers will host their Hwy. 101 rival Brookings-Harbor Bruins next Thursday evening, at 7:00pm. The Panthers will be honoring Breast Cancer Awareness and are asking fans from both the Panthers and the Bruins to participate in a “Pink Out”, at Gold Beach stadium next Thursday evening, in honor of all those that have been affected.
