Panthers tangle with Tigers
By JARED PUTNAM

Chandler Gordon launches up to try to deflect the pass.

The Panthers played their second home game of the season Friday night, falling 38-0 to a strong Dawson County passing attack on a bitterly cold night.

Head Coach Todd Peugh said from the beginning of the season that this recent string of games (Morgan County, Fannin County, and Dawson County) would very likely be the toughest stretch of the season. On Monday he emphasized the importance of how the players respond.

"We're trying to teach these players how to compete," said Coach Peugh. "You have to learn to get mad and not take losing, to not accept anything less than your best. The mentality has to change in order to turn this around and being competitive is the first step in doing that."

Coach Peugh said that after watching the film of the game he saw that the difficulties didn't stem from getting physically beaten, but rather, a case of lack of execution. "It's the ultimate team sport," said the coach. "You have to have 11 guys doing what they supposed to do. If one person doesn't, then you suffer. The man focus this weekend was showing them how one or two players not doing what they are supposed to do affects everybody. "

Quarterback Kyle McClure tries to escape the Dawson pass rush.

The coach said that Monday's practice went very well. "We changed practice up today," said Coach Peugh. "We just challenged them and we really got after it. We're trying to create that really physical mentality. It may have been the best practice we've had."

The team does have injuries, but will not have the luxury of a bye week to heal, as their off week came the first week of the season. "Everybody is [hurting] this time of year," said the coach. "Earlier in the year it was probably an advantage, but you get in the middle of season and you get beat up and everybody is

tired. It would be nice to have a week to heal some people, but fall break will give them a little bit of rest time."

Next up for the Panthers is another away game, this time against the Leopards of Banks County.

Austin Collins gets set to make the tackle. Cheerleaders toss t-shirts to the crowd. The Panthers runner drags the Dawson defender along with him.