The Whitharral Panthers edged out a win over the Happy Cowboys to top off homecoming events this past Friday.
The Cowboys scored on the first play, but Whitharral charged into action and scored on a rush to take the lead 8-6.
Both teams scored another touchdown to close out the first quarter with a Panther lead of 16-12.
The second quarter, the Panthers held onto the lead, with both teams scoring. Happy bounced back to tie the game 3636, but with one second left on the clock, Whitharral scored and would close the first half out with 42-36 lead.
The third quarter saw the Panthers score three more touchdowns, with Happy putting on on the board.
The Panthers added another TD in the fourth quarter, and though Happy scored, they were unable to close the point gap, giving Whitharral the win, 67-60.
The Panthers racked up 20 first downs, 36 rushing attempts for 370 yards, and 10 of 13 passing completions for 127 yards, with 10 penalties for 79 yards.
Whitharral senior Daniel Rodriguez led the team with 23 rushes for 286 yards and seven touchdowns. Sophomore Hudson Prowell had seven rushes for 66 yards and one touchdown.
Senior Hudson Dobrovolny led the Panthers with four receptions for 86 yards, and Prowell had three receptions for 34 yards.
For the defense¸ junior Cooper Burns came through with six tackles, and Dobrovolny and Prowell each had five.
Head coach Josh Watson said, “It starts with our seniors. They are starting to realize what varsity football is and how they need to execute it every time.
“In week one, we put the ball on the ground seven times; this week it was only once or twice. We improved on that and that was a big thing, I’m looking for improvement week by week, and we do have a lot of young guys that weren’t on varsity prior to this year.”
Watson said one of the things his team needed to focus on was handling the snap from the quarterback-center-exchange and covering the other team.
“We need to focus on learning how each player will cover their man, whether they’re releasing right on them or if they’re sacked off, but covering is everything,” said Watson.
Whitharrall will travel to play the Boys Ranch Roughriders (0-2) this Friday.