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Panthers lose opener

By Sue Sitter - | Aug 27, 2023

A young Rugby Panthers varsity football fell short against the Harvey-Wells County Hornets in Harvey, 38-14, for its season opener Friday, Aug. 18.

The Hornets, with 10 seniors on their roster, took on the Panthers squad with five seniors, 10 juniors, six sophomores and a group of freshmen, making their varsity debut.

The Panthers opened the scoring on a 47-yard punt return for a touchdown by punt returner and quarterback, Tucker Volk, giving the Panthers an early 8-0 lead. Senior running back and linebacker Austin Schneibel added the two-point conversion.

Led by Schneibel on defense, the Panthers stopped all but one two-point conversion attempt by the Hornets.

Hornets QB Tallen Thorson answered with a 25-yard touchdown pass, cutting the Rugby lead to 8-6 at the end of the first quarter. That lead did not last long with Thorson putting the Hornets up for good early in the second quarter with a 17-yard touchdown pass.

“We were hoping we could keep them on the field a little bit longer, but they were getting tired,” said Rugby head coach Travis Risovi. “They were getting winded and running out of breath. They needed drinks and were cramping up. We did a lot more subbing with some younger kids than we expected to, but you know, it’s part of learning and part of getting better, and now they have a little more experience.”

Harvey finished with 372 total yards compared to 238 for the Panthers. Thorson threw for 225 yards compared to Volk with 107.

Rugby and Harvey both ran the ball effectively with Harvey finishing with 147 yards on the ground. Rugby totaled 131 rushing yards

Harvey caused three Panther turnovers, forcing two Rugby fumbles and intercepting one Volk pass.

“The defense I thought played pretty well. They weren’t giving up the big plays,” said Risovi. “They just got worn down. Right now, we’re lacking some depth just because of our inexperience and how young our kids are. You know, we have 43 kids on our roster, but 19 of them are freshmen who’ve never played a varsity game before. It’s going to be an experience and they’re going to get better every single week. Obviously, we came up on the short end, but I was encouraged.”

The Panthers second touchdown came when Volk connected with running back Taytum Risovi, finishing the scoring at 38-14.

“I told the boys I’m not upset with them at all. I thought they played hard, and the effort was good. We have a lot of learning to do, and we knew that coming into the season,” said Risovi. “There’s a lot of new faces and we have a ton of learning to do. But there were some really encouraging things tonight. I saw some really good stuff. Obviously, I saw some mistakes and things we have to fix, but overall, I was encouraged with what the boys gave.”