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Panthers end season with 66-0 shutout against New Town

By Sue Sitter - | Oct 16, 2021

Photo cutline: Sue Sitter/PCT Panthers guard Gavin Schepp carries the ball downfield against the New Town Eagles at Rugby’s Johnsen Field Oct. 8.

Not only did the Rugby High Panthers end their season with a 66-0 win and a 4-4 record Oct. 8; they had an opportunity to get all their players in the game.

At the end of the shutout against the New Town Eagles on Johnsen Field in Rugby, energized Panthers bounded to the end zone for a last onfield chat with their coaches.

“We knew that this might be a chance to get everybody into some varsity football and really our JV team hasn’t been on our football field in a month,” Head Coach Travis Risovi said after the meeting. “We’ve had the last three games canceled,” Risovi said of the JV players, who saw their end-season games cut not because of COVID, but injuries and illnesses.

“So, those kids who played later in the game, they haven’t been on a field in a month. I wanted to make sure they got to play a little bit here, too.”

One JV player to get some field time was Risovi’s son, Tatum, a freshman tailback. Tatum made his dad proud with not one, but two TDs in the second quarter.

“We have some really talented kids on the JV team, too,” Risovi explained. “Everybody’s going to get to see them in the future, but when you have a group of 10 seniors like we do, they take a lot of the varsity spots and they deserve the varsity spots.”

Senior wide receiver Hudson Hooker scored the first TD of the game, just five minutes after the clock started. Guard Michael Niemi, also a senior, took the ball into the end zone for a two-point conversion.

The Panthers would cross into both end zones on the field plenty of times that evening.

Junior Erik Foster, himself a quarterback when the Panthers’ first-stringer Brody Schneibel was sidelined by medical issues, intercepted a pass by New Town’s Charles Hunter for TD number two. Senior guard Alec Wolf took the ball in for another two points. Another senior, Panthers middle linebacker Kory Vetsch, took Hunter back behind the line of scrimmage on the next short-lived New Town possession. With 14 yards to go on a fourth down, the Eagles punted. A penalty call brought back a long carry by senior guard Gavin Schepp. With 21 yards to go on the second down, Schepp brought the ball forward again, this time carrying it to the Eagles’ nine-yard line for a first down.

A Brody Schneibel pass to senior tight end Lathan DeMontigny put six more points on the scoreboard for the Panthers. However, the Eagles defense shut down the next two-point conversion attempt by the Panthers.

The Panthers defense put down the Eagles’ offense quickly again, sacking Hunter in the backfield. With no gains in four downs, New Town punted again. Macen Heisler returned the punt to the Eagles’ 24-yard line, setting the stage for a TD for senior outside linebacker Riley Tuenge. The first quarter ended with a 28-0 Panthers lead.

In the second quarter, JV players began to sub in, showing a promising future for the Panthers. Defensive lineman Landon Zietz recovered a Hunter fumble, setting up the first of two TDs for Risovi.

Heisler changed things up with an extra point kick, bringing the Panthers’ lead to 35-0.

On the next Rugby possession, this time with DeMontigny as QB, middle linebacker Austin Schneibel took in the Panthers’ sixth TD. Risovi would follow a short time later with his second TD after an Eagles fumble, recovered by freshman tight end Connor Ramsey.

The fight onfield intensified but still the Eagles gained no traction. Penalties on both sides brought the ball back, but the Panthers made steady progress. Wingbacks Kolton Bohl and Will Kuntz both saw first downs, setting up a TD for running back John Jundt. The first half ended with a 53-0 Panthers lead.

The game’s second half followed the same pattern for the Panthers defense. The Eagles’ defense ramped up, limiting the Panthers to two TDs.

Junior varsity player Tucker Volk took a turn as QB. Another JV player, tailback Weston Kuntz, scored TD number eight on a nine-yard carry. Heisler kicked in the extra point for a 60-0 Rugby lead.

The final Panthers TD came when JV cornerback Cy Walker intercepted a pass by Eagles QB Dominic Marshall, carrying it in to grow the Panthers’ lead to 66-0.

The Eagles’ offensive line continued to struggle. After sacking Marshall, Panthers defensive end William Lundberg helped him up.

Penalties still figured into the game late in the third and fourth quarter, wiping out one potential TD and stopping Rugby’s progress.

The Eagles received the ball on their own 20 yard line. Carries by Marshall failed to get the Eagles the yards they needed.

Two final carries for first downs, one by fullback Micah Musser and one by fullback Jaden Wald, put the Panthers two yards from the end zone before another penalty call moved them back. With the final minutes of the game ticking away, Volk took a knee.

Risovi said he was sad to see the seniors play their last game of the season. However, the juniors showed lots of promise.

“We have Erik (Foster), Logan (Harner), Macen (Heisler) and Dylan (Bartsch); it’s just so much talent in those upper couple of grades,” Risovi said. “But that freshman-sophomore group, too, the JV group, some people got to see them tonight and that’s kind of fun.”

Reflecting on the season, Risovi said penalties did some damage to the Panthers. “When we look back on the year, we know we really hurt ourselves (with penalties). Every game, we seemed to find a penalty that really hurt us or we missed a play that really hurt us. It was one of those ‘What could’ve been’ types of seasons. We lost one by six and another one by five last week. One play here or there makes all the difference.”

“Unfortunately, we fell on the wrong side of those but overall, the boys had a good year,” he added. “They worked hard; they had a good attitude. They had a lot of fun. Sports is all about learning life lessons. It’s going to build character and make them better people in the long run.”

“It’s hard right now, but I guarantee, when they’re old men like me, they’ll look back on this and smile and think about how much fun high school football was and how much they would love to do it again,” Risovi said.

Risovi said next year’s prospects encouraged him. “We have really good numbers and we have kids who want to play and are excited about playing. The future looks good.”