The Panorama Panthers football team opened up week one of the regular season when they headed to Colfax on Friday to take on the Colfax-Mingo Tigerhawks who were playing their first game in their brand new stadium and one Panthers running back paced their way to victory.

The Panthers were facing off against the Tigerhawks for the second year in a row and the Panthers won over Colfax-Mingo last year by a final score of 26-21 and the Panthers were looking to make that win streak two years running and put together a solid four quarters of football on Friday night winning by a final score of 57-33 which was led by a offense that was humming and a defense that made the most of its opportunities including nabbing two interceptions.

One of the biggest factors in Panorama’s win Friday night was junior running back Ryan Cogil who had a monster night for the Panthers. Cogil carried the ball a whopping 34 times Friday night but amassed 304 yards at 8.9 yards per carry and also found paydirt on the ground six times against the Tigerhawks. The Panthers rushing attack was formidable Friday night as they collected 414 yards on the ground with Cogil and Cayden VanMeer who also got had 93 yards on the ground from eight carries with a touchdown being the two main contributors. If you include the rushing yards Cogil earned on the ground in their week zero matchup against the Perry Bluejays, Cogil is number one in the state across all classes in rushing yards heading into week two of the regular season.

Head Coach Mike Kauzlarich said the Panthers came out a little shaky to begin the game and it was tough defending one of the Tigerhawks best players who is being recruited by Iowa and Iowa State which led to a 14-0 deficit early but with adjustments the Panthers were able to bounce back. Kauzlarich mentioned some of the big factors of the game included conditioning, pace of play and toughness which showed as the game wore on and the Panthers players are getting behind the style of football they want to play.

The Panthers were able to put up the most points in a game with 57 since the 2013-14 football season when they put up 65 points against Missouri Valley. The Panthers are looking to keep this momentum going forward as their week two matchup will have the Pella Christian Eagles coming to Panora which is a team that got the best of the Panthers last season.

The Panthers football team will continue their regular season schedule of games as the Pella Christian Eagles will be coming to town for another matchup beginning at 7 p.m. September 2nd at Panorama High School in Panora as the Panthers will look to remain undefeated.