Barbara Lawlor, Nederland. October 1, 2015.   It was a fight to the finish. The Panthers weren’t about to let the Eagles through the door at the end of the fourth quarter. It was a game filled with penalties and turnovers and some great passing action. The Nederland boys came up with the big plays when they were needed, and sunk the Pike’s Peak Christian Eagles 30-24.

The Panthers are now 2-2 and preparing to play the Gilpin High School Eagles on the Nederland field on Saturday, Oct.3 at 1 p.m. The Eagles are 3-1 and will be coming off a bye week when the two mountain rival teams clash this weekend. During halftime, there will also be a ceremony to retire Panther jersey number 88, held by NHS graduate Miles Pancoast who received spinal cord injuries in a vehicle accident almost a year ago. The public is invited to attend and honor Miles for his outstanding work as an NHS football player.

Last Saturday’s game began with a long Panther drive, moving the ball from the Panther 10 yard line to the Eagle 32 yard line with a series of four first downs with Kenny Shankey and Jack Abendroth carrying the ball, moving the chains.

At fourth down and 11 on the 32, Ned quarterback Jaylan Rasdall threw to Quin Kuechenmeister putting the ball close to the end zone. Rasdall threw to Abendroth who made the touchdown and then Rasdall carried the ball in for an 8-0 score.

The fans were as happy as the golden leaves quaking in the background. Joy was dashed when the Eagles took the kickoff and ran it back for a TD. The two point conversion was stopped and the score was 8-6.

Ned’s Trig Campbell received the kickoff and the ball was at the Panther 34 yard line. The Eagles defense caught the Panthers, putting an end to the drive. Tucker Carr punted and the Eagles attempted, using their TD momentum, to gain yards- but the Nederland defense answered the attack and held Pike’s Peak to their own territory, forcing them to punt at the beginning of the second quarter.

The Panthers had four plays and then punted. As the Eagles worked to move the ball, Nederland was slapped with the first of three face mask calls but it didn’t help the Eagles with their destination. They punted and within seconds Kuechenmeister was streaking, with the ball, toward the Pike’s Peak end zone. No one could touch him. Rasdall passed to Abendroth for the extra points and Ned added to their lead 16-6.

In the Panthers’ next possession, a short pass, a quick turn to free himself from a tackler and Kuechenmeister runs for another touchdown. Rasdall hooks up with Abendroth for the extra points and Nederland was ahead a nicely comfortable 24-6.

With about two minutes on the clock until the end of the first half, Vail offense earned four first downs and moved to the Panther 7-yard line and then in for the score. Nederland’s Bob Allen caught the Vail quarterback for a sack during the conversion attempt and with 47 seconds left in the half, the score was 24-12.

After the kickoff, Nederland advanced steadily, gaining three first downs and then a touchdown pass to Abendroth to take the lead 30-12 in the last 13 seconds of the first half.

Towards the end of the third quarter, the Eagles ran back a punt for a touchdown to pick up six more points, 30-18. The Nederland offense was stopped and Vail Christian moved into Panther territory.

Asnin Malla sacked the Vail quarterback, forcing them to punt and Ned took over the ball on their own five yard line.

Rasdall completed passes to Austin O’melia and Tucher Carr but ended up punting. The Eagles pushed forward to the Nederland 25 yard line when Trig Cambell intercepted a Vail pass and put the Panthers on their own l0-yard line.

The Eagles capitalized on a Panther fumble and pushed into the end zone, scoring a touchdown with a little over a minute to go. At 30-24, the game wasn’t over. A little over a minute later, it was over, with the Ned boys holding on to their lead and gaining their second victory.

Saturday’s game against Gilpin should be competitive, with fan-filled bleachers and Frito-pie’s, as well as two teams who have won and lost to the same teams so far this season. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Nederland High School.

Coach Aaron Jones says, “I was happy with our first half performance, with the exception of the breakdown on Pikes Peak’s first play on offense Some of our playmakers stepped up and got the job done when we needed it.  We wanted to use the clock up in the second half and avoid big mistakes that might let them back in the game.  Their offense wasn’t very explosive and they needed to eat up clock to grind out a scoring drive.  The strategy worked but it was nerve racking at times.  We won, but I would like to have seen a better 2nd half offensively.”

Overall Player of the Game: Jaylan Rasdall

Offensive Player of the Game: Quin Kuechenmeister

Defensive Player of the Game: Trig Campbell

Special Teams Player of the Game: Tucker Carr

Passing: Jaylan Rasdall, 13/20 for 215 yards and three touchdowns

Rushing: Jaylan Rasdall: 11 carries for 97 yards, 31 long; Kenny Shankey, 9 carries for 27 yards; Quin Kuechenmeister, 1 carry for six yards; Austin O’melia, 8 carries for 30 yards; Tucker Carr, 4 carries for 9 yards.

Receiving: Jack Abendroth, 6 receptions for 65 yards and 2 touchdowns; Quin Kuechenmeister, 6 receptions for 142 yards and 1 touchdown; Robert Allen, reception for 8 yards.

All Purpose Yards: Caleb Pubmire, 1 KO return, 1 yard;  Trig Campbell, 27 yards KO return, 21 yards interception return; Quin Kuechenmeister 65 yards, punt return

Tackles: Caleb Pugmire, 6 solo tackles, 2 assists; Jaylan Rasdall, 1 solo tackle; Kenny Shankey, 3 solo tackles and 4 assists; Trig Campbell, 7 solo tackles and 2 assists; Jack Abendroth, 1 solo tackle; Sunil Ghale, 1 solo tackle; Layton Kasch, 2 assists; Robert Allen, 4 solo tackles and 2 assists; Aswin Malla, 4 solo tackles, 1 assist; Keyghan Otten, 4 color tackles, 1 assist and tucker Carr, 3 solo tackles and 2 assists.

Sacks: Robert Allen, 3 sacks; Aswin Malla, 1 sack

Interceptions: Caleb Pugmire, 1; Trig Campbell, 1

Kickoffs: Tucker Carr, 5 kicks for 251 yards, 60 long

Punts: Tucker Carr, 3 punts for 150 yards, 55 long

Kickoff returns: Caleb Pugmire: 1 for 1 yard; Trig Campbell, 2 for 27 yards

Punt Returns: Quin Kuechenmeister, 2 for 65 yards

Points: Jaylan Rasdall, 2 points; Jack Abendroth, 2 touchdowns, 2 conversions, Quin Kuechenmeister, 2 touchdowns