Panthers put up a fight in 43-20 loss to unbeaten Beavers

The outcome wasn’t what the Concordia Panthers were looking for against unbeaten and third-ranked Scott City, but the effort was.
Despite falling behind 14-0 early in the game, and then 29-6 early in the second half, the Panthers continued to battle to the end of a 43-20 loss to Scott City in a Class 3A District 8 matchup Friday night at Harold M. Clark Stadium.
Concordia racked up over 350 yards of total offense and scored more points than any other team had this season against the Beavers.
“What we talked about, as a coaching staff, after the game is how proud of the kids we were for their effort for four quarters,” Concordia coach Austin Kingsbury said, “I think that was the first time against a good football team that we have played hard for four quarters.”
The Panthers will get another shot at a good football team when they are on the road Friday night to take on unbeaten and fourth-ranked Pratt in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.
Concordia (3-5) finished fourth in District 8, and faces Pratt, the top seed in District 7.
Pratt (8-0) locked up a district title by defeating Nickerson 48-14.
Scott City (8-0) captured the District 8 championship.
Colby, which beat Goodland 61-10 Friday night, finished second. Beloit was third after knocking off Russell 48-21.
Concordia picked up one first down on the first possession of the game on an 11-yard pass from Dyelan Reed to Chas Carlgren, but had to punt.
Scott City got the ball on its own 44-yard line and needed just three plays to score.
Wyatt Hayes broke a 44-yard touchdown run with 9:46 to play in the first quarter.
Concordia would put together a 10-play drive, and move inside the Beavers’ 40-yard line on the ensuing possession.
The Panthers were facing a fourth down and 11 when Reed’s pass intended for Tanner Smith was incomplete.
Scott City would overcome consecutive penalties and go 61 yards in 11 plays.
Hayes scored on a 1-yard run with 11:16 remaining in the second half, and it was a 14-0 game.
Following a Concordia punt, the Panthers recovered a Scott City fumble on its own 44-yard line.
Reed, who finished 20 of 33 for 278 yards and two touchdowns, completed an 8-yard pass to Carlgren on a fourth down and one play.
The Panthers would convert again on fourth down on a 9-yard pass from Reed to Carlgren.
Reed hooked up with Wyatt Trost on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 1:24 left in the first half.
There was a bad snap on the conversion attempt, and Concordia trailed 14-6.
Scott City was not content to just run out the clock.
The Beavers went 59 yards in eight plays, and scored on an 18-yard pass from Parker Gooden to Marshall Faurot with 17 seconds on the clock to make it 21-6.
“We were happy with the way we played in the first half,” Kingsbury said, “I think everybody was pretty positive going in at halftime even though they did get that late score,”
Scott City got the ball to start the second half, and put together a four play, 58-yard scoring drive that Brandon Winderlin capped off with a 15-yard run.
The Beavers ran a fake on the extra point attempt, and kicker Moses Hinojos completed a pass for two points that made it 29-6 with just 1:16 gone by in the third quarter.
Concordia answered with a 10-play drive, but a Reed pass intended for Trost was intercepted at the Scott City 6-yard line.
The Beavers would be forced to punt, but came up with a fourth down stop and got the ball back on its own 18.
A 13-yard touchdown pass from Gooden to Conner Armendariz finished off an 82-yard drive, and it was a 36-6 game with 8:35 to play.
Reed completed a 31-yard pass to Trost to start a 69-yard scoring drive by Concordia.
Keyan Miller got into the end zone on a 7-yard run.
Hunter Schroeder kicked the extra point, and the Panthers trailed 36-13 with 4:48 on the clock.
Scott City, with most of its starters still on the field, went 55 yards in 10 plays, and Gooden scored on a 4-yard run with 35 seconds remaining that made it 43-13.
The Panthers would not give up.
Getting the ball on its own 35-yard line, Concordia needed just three plays to score.
The big play was a 46-yard pass from Reed to Trost.
Reed then threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Carlgren as time ran out.
Schroeder kicked the extra point to make the final 43-20.
“We didn’t execute perfectly, but we played hard and we definitely executed better than we had,” Kingsbury said.
Miller rushed for 60 yards on 14 carries.
Carlgren had eight catches for 132 yards.
Trost had four grabs for 76 yards and Smith had five for 49 yards.
Scott City finished with 454 yards of total offense.