by 
Superior Sun
The Panthers will be the first to say they didn’t play their best game last Friday against Pima in a 56 – 26 loss, their first of the season. The now fifth-ranked Panthers made too many mistakes against a good team to come away with the win.
“Pima is a very talented team,” said Panthers’ head coach Ryan Palmer, who also acknowledged Pima’s home-field advantage. “Unfortunately we did not (play our best) and made too many mistakes.)
Some of those mistakes included missed blocks, dropped passes, missed defensive assignments, and missed tackles. The Panthers can’t afford those types of miscues against a quality team like Pima.
There were some bright spots for the Panthers despite the loss. Sophomore quarterback Gage Cruz threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns, one each to Matthew Zavala, Elias Olmos, and Michael Salazar. Zavala (118) and Salazar (119) combined for 237 receiving yards. Edgar Pacheco rushed for a touchdown in the game. He also led the defense with 13 tackles.
Palmer was quick to credit the Roughriders for causing some of the mistakes and, of course, taking advantage of them. As well as the Panthers have performed so far this season, it’s easy to forget they are still young and still learning. The ability to learn from their mistakes and not repeat them will go a long way in determining how far the Panthers can go this season. They’ll play talented teams like Pima down the road and the experience of Friday’s game could prove to be beneficial.
“Pima is easily the second best team in the state, right behind Bagdad,” Palmer explained. “We learned a lot about our team in this loss. We have the ability to compete with the best teams in the state, but we need to be more disciplined and consistent with our execution.”
“We will learn from our mistakes and move forward,” he added.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Panthers this week with the Copper Helmet Trophy on the line versus eighth-ranked Ray. There is added importance in this year’s game with both teams ranked in the top 10. The winner of the game not only gets to take home the Copper Helmet, but it will also have a leg up in the power points rankings when they are released by the AIA in October. Power Points Rankings are used by the AIA to determine playoff teams and seedings for the State Playoffs.
Friday’s game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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