Panthers edged by Putnam in final game
By JARED PUTNAM

The Panthers football team made the more than 3 hour trek to Putnam County Friday, as the home team prevailed 14-13 in a close fought game. "They left everything they had out on the field," said Head Coach Todd Peugh.

Union County possessed the ball the majority of the first quarter and the game remained a scoreless tie until the Panthers created a drive of over 50 yards, punching it into the end zone on a Chris Tanner run. "Chris was the workhorse on the drive," said the coach. "We ran behind Colt Dyer and Josh Akinson and Josh Payne and Robert Heider had some good

blocks. We got linebackers flying outside and opened things up inside."

Putnam County later scored to make it 7-6, but missed the extra point. Union held the lead until under two minutes left, when Putnam scored and executed a two point conversion to make it 14- 7 with roughly a minute and a half left.

The Panthers got ball near their own 20 and Kody Owenby completed passes to Josh Payne, advancing the ball down near the opponent's 30 with under a minute remaining.

Owenby hit brother Kolt Owenby with a pass for the touchdown, making it 14-13. The coach said the drive showed where the team has come [in terms of will to win] by making the final drive to score with less than 2 minutes. "That showed me a lot of character," said Coach Peugh. "That showed me a lot of heart."

Coach Peugh described the dilemma that followed. "We're three and a half hours from home and 1-8, do we kick the extra point or go for two?" The team wanted to go for the win, but two point conversion was unsuccessful.

"It was the worst Saturday I've had because I wanted it for them so bad," said Coach Peugh. "I wish it had been a home game, because we played some tough games at home. Every game we had at home was against four [very strong] teams. To see what they did Friday, I wish it had been in front of the home crowd to give people here a chance to see that they fought their tails off."

The coach said that although the season is over, offseason work will begin soon enough in the weight room,

working towards next season. "They have come a long way this year, even though it didn't result in wins on the scoreboard," said Coach Peugh. "There have been a lot of strides made." Much of the progress in terms of learning plays and allowing the coaches to add to the playbook, building a foundation of familiarity with plays that won't force them to hit the restart button. "We started from the ground floor [this year]," said Coach Peugh, whose team had many freshemen and sophomores, and plenty of inexperienced juniors and seniors.

He said that he wants the kids to learn to take more ownership in the program, and understand that the bad taste from losses should serve as motivation for next season. The coach said that it is important to change the mindset into a "can't stand to lose attitude." Said Coach Peugh, "It's going to boil down to hard work. There is work to be done, but I want them to take pride in what they are doing."