Photos courtesy Jessie Otten
Panther head football coach Tyler Whitebread told his offensive coordinator Jesse Abbott, “Have your two-point play ready if we score, because we came to win.” Whitebread stayed with his plan as the Panthers pulled off a miracle win at Orion scoring with 2.2 seconds left in regulation and then got the 2-point conversion with no time left to steal a 35-34 win, their first of the year,
The Chargers started the game taking the opening kickoff and marching down the field scoring a 25-yard run to go up 7-0 with less than two minutes gone in the contest.
The Panthers responded with an impressive drive of their own featuring a 25-yard pass play from Jeremiah Kochevar to Demetree Larsen. Justus Hough put the Panthers on the board from 2 yards out but a failed PAT kept Orion in the lead 7-6.
A nice return to midfield set the Chargers up and it took them just four plays to add another score to go up 14-6 with 4:22 left in the first quarter.
The offenses continued to dominate as the Panthers marched down the field featuring a 25-yard pass reception by Luke Otten and several quick runs by quarterback Kochevar but the Panthers failed on a fourth and goal from the 5 yard line when a pass fell incomplete.
Orion suffered the same fate on their first drive of the second quarter as they drove to the Panther 15 yard line and also could not convert on a fourth down with 10 minutes remaining in the quarter. Larsen gave the Panthers some breathing room with a 9-yard run to push the ball to the Panther 24 yard line. Hough then broke free on a run up the middle and was finally brought down on the Orion 3 yard line. He was rewarded on the next play busting into the end zone to cut the Charger lead to 14-13 with 8:41 left in the half.
Following another good kickoff return Orion started their following drive on the Panther 48 yard line. The Panther defense finally forced a punt and took over on their own 11. The EP offense sputtered for the first time in the contest as a fumbled handoff resulted in a 6 yard loss, followed by a penalty, and a run for no gain. The Panthers were forced to rush a punt from the back of their end zone and gave the Chargers the ball on the Panther 20. It took the Chargers just four plays to score and push the lead to 20-13 with 5:18 left to go in the first half.
The Panther offense would go back to work with the Kochevar to Otten connection resulting in a 30-yard pickup to the Charger 36. Two plays later Kochevar would find Otten again taking the ball to the four. Kochevar would score his first TD of the night and with the PAT the Panthers tied the score at 20 with 1:42 left in the first half.
Despite the short clock Orion started a drive at their own 40 and found the end zone again six plays later on five consecutive passes to go up 27-20 at the half.
The Panthers received the second half kickoff but went three and out and punted. The EP defense caused a fumble and recovered the ball on their own 46 yard line with just over 10 minutes left in the quarter. After a promising drive Larsen coughed up the ball with Orion recovering on their own 29. Two plays later Larsen redeemed himself collecting an interception to give the Panthers the ball back at midfield.
Hough kept the drive going picking up 4 yards on a fourth and one to put the ball at the Charger 27 with 3:40 left in the third quarter. Kochevar would finish the drive rolling into the end zone from 4 yards out. Kicker Alex Lindell caught a break as his PAT kick hit the left upright but bounced through to tie the game at 27 with 1:37 left in the third.
Orion’s next drive was aided by two Panther penalties with the Chargers eventually getting the ball to the Panther 8. A holding call on the Chargers moved the ball back to the 20 yard line with the Panther defense holding as Orion failed on a fourth down pass play.
With 10:06 left in the game the Panthers took over on their own 8 yard line and started a methodical drive featuring several runs by Larsen and Kochevar. With the Panthers facing a fourth and one on the Charger’s 31 the quarterback used his legs again to pick up 18 and the Panthers looked to be in great shape for a go-ahead score. Unfortunately on the next play, a touchdown run was called back due to a holding penalty. After a 15 yard pickup by Larsen, a fourth and two pass from the 5 yard line was picked off with the Chargers looking at 95 yards to pay dirt with 5:10 to go in the game.
Once again the Orion passing game came to life as a 36-yard connection moved the ball to their 41. A few plays later, facing a fourth and six from the Panther 43 the Chargers were unable to convert when a pass dropped incomplete.
The Panthers had a second opportunity for a game-winning drive with 2:34 left in the game but on the first play, a fumbled toss was recovered by the Chargers on the Panther 39 yard line.
Three plays later the Chargers found the end zone from 20 yards out to take a 34-27 lead with just 1:39 left in the game.
Looking at falling to 0-6 and starting from their own 35 but with three timeouts remaining, the Panthers went to work. After two runs for little gain an 8-yard pass play put the ball just short of midfield with :45 to go. Two more short passes and an incompletion put the ball at the Orion 43 with no timeouts and 18 seconds remaining.
On the next play Kochevar dropped back and got leveled just as he released the ball but it had enough distance to connect with a leaping Demetree Larsen at the 25 who then fought with three defenders before being dragged down at the 5 yard line. The Panthers quickly got to the line and spiked the ball to stop the clock with 2.2 seconds left. “Larsen’s effort after he caught that ball was unbelievable,” said Whitehead after the game.
On the final play who else, Kochevar and Larsen teamed up as a perfectly lofted ball to the corner of the end zone found its mark for a touchdown as time expired to make it a 34-33 Orion.
Without hesitation the Panthers went for the two-point conversion with the dynamic duo connecting again on a quick pass to the edge and Larsen going over the pylon for the win.
The last touchdown was a play that Whitebread said the quarterbacks work on at practice. “It’s called a snag route and our quarterbacks do a drill called “drop it in the bucket”, which is a fade to the corner of the endzone. The two-point conversion was just Demetree going to the edge and Kochevar just threw it perfectly. I thought he had a walk-in but he had to dive to the pylon to get in.”
The win was Whitebread’s first as a head coach. “I can’t believe that my first when was that hard. It was just unreal. I told the kids we would do something special this season and we just did. It was awesome to see the players celebrate.”
Watch the last 18 seconds of the game.
