Panthers shut out Titans in opener
The Park City Panthers kicked off the 2016 football season in no uncertain fashion, crushing the Tri-City (Hobson-Moore-Judith Gap) Titans by 32-0 on Friday, Aug. 26.
“It was a very good team effort for our first win of the season,” head coach Mark Rathbun said. “The coaching staff enjoyed seeing some transfer of drills into game action.”
Senior Brandon Flemmer scored twice on short-yardage plays in the first quarter, and senior quarterback Tucker Zuhoski made good on the second extra-point attempt.
Sophomore Connor McNeil scored midway in the second quarter with a 42-yard pass from Zuhoski. The Panthers scored again midway in the third quarter with a 46-yard run by Zuhoski. Then McNeil scored again in the fourth quarter with a 44-yard scamper to cap the scoring blitz. The extra-point attempts on the last three scores failed.
“We need to improve our conversion percentage and sustaining blocks,” Rathbun said.
Park City posted 277 yards of offense, including 187 yards on the ground on 38 runs. Zuhoski was three of eight with 90 yards in the air and no interceptions.
Tri-City racked up 166 yards of offense, including 136 running yards on 44 plays. Their pass offense was weak, with 30 yards on three out of 16 attempts and three interceptions.
This is the Titans’ first year in the Southern C 8-man football conference. Last year, the Titans played 6-man football.
The Denton-Geyser-Stanford Bearcats also moved from 8-man to 6-man football this year. The Panthers will face DGS on Sept. 24 in Geyser.
Next up for the Panthers is an away game against their conference foe in Harlowton on Friday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m.
“We travel to Harlowton for a tough battle with the Engineers, who we lost to last year and hope to come away with a different result this season,” Rathbun said.
The Absarokee Huskies forfeited their first game against the Ennis Mustangs because they couldn’t muster a full roster. Their next game is in Wilsall against the Shields Valley Rebels on Friday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m.
Park City 32, Tri-City 0
Park City 14 6 6 6 – 32
Tri-City 0 0 0 0 – 0
PC: Flemmer 3 yard run (pass failed)
PC: Flemmer 1 yard run (pass good)
PC: McNeil 42 yard pass from Zuhoski (run failed)
PC: Zuhoski 46 yard run (run failed)
PC: McNeil 44 yard run (run failed)