RUSSELL-TYLER-RUTHTON HANDS PANTHERS 3RD STRAIGHT LOSS, 35-8
Sometimes after a tough loss, a coach will focus on the bright spots of the game in the post-game speech and encourage the players to not hang their heads.
Last Friday was not one of those times. TMB head football coach Ryan Kruse’s talk after Friday’s 35-8 loss to Russell-Tyler-Ruthton was very short and not very sweet, a stark difference to his regular post-game routine.
“We didn’t have any toughness tonight,” a dejected Ryan Kruse said after his brief message to his equally-dejected players. “Tackling, blocking; when things went wrong, we rolled over, I felt. I don’t think we played hard … just bad.”
This homecoming night was truly a long one for the Panthers, who were outgained 367 yards to 213 by an RTR team that was hardly an offensive juggernaut, but the Panthers were able to move the ball early, as their first four drives each included at least 11 plays. However, the first three possessions ended badly.
Under heavy pressure, quarterback Jackson Kruse fumbled on the 11th play of the Panthers’ opening possession; the ball was picked up by RTR’s Colton Chandler, who ran it in from 44 yards out.
The Panther offense then went back to work, going on a 12-play drive, but that possession, as well as the next one, stalled — the Panthers converted just three of nine fourth-down conversions.
After stopping TMB, the Knights went up 12-0 on a 10-yard run by Brayden Chandler.
Another promising TMB drive on the ensuing possession that included a nice 18-yard reception by Ty Yackley brought the Panthers down to RTR’s 19-yard line, but RTR’s defense stiffened once again and the Knights turned the Panthers away.
Nine plays into their next drive, the Knights made it 20-0 on a 29-yard touchdown pass from freshman quartetback Gavin Hook to Garrett Elton.
The two teams entered Friday’s contest with identical records, but it was the Knights who looked like the better team, at least on this night.
“I think they wanted to win the game and … we didn’t seem to want to win it today,” coach Kruse said. “We practiced well; we were ready I thought, but as soon as the game started … we didn’t have what we needed to win the game.”
It wasn’t until very late in the second quarter that the Panthers got on the board. Again, TMB was adept at moving the ball down the field; this time, it was an 11-play drive that covered 70 yards. The march down the field included multiple quarterback keepers and first down passes to both Nolan Verlinde and Emery Xiong. And this time, the Panthers would hit pay dirt, as Kruse put the exclamation point on the drive with a 3-yard scoring run. Kruse hit Xiong for the two-point conversion, making it 20-8 just before half.
The second half belonged to the Knights, but not early on. TMB forced a three-and-out on the first drive of the half, and the Panthers looked to have carried the momentum from their late first-half score into the third quarter.
Xiong snared a 41-yard pass from Kruse to get TMB to the RTR 34-yard line, but Braden Nibbe sacked Kruse on 4th-and-6 to give the Knights the ball back. The Knights would score two more times on touchdowns runs by Hook (15 yards) and Brayden Chandler 47 yards).
The loss was the Panthers’ third in a row and, like the previous two setbacks, the final score was a lopsided one.
“We didn’t lose the (first) two for lack of effort,” coach Kruse said. “We lost because they were the better team. I just don’t think we focused enough (against RTR); I don’t know what it was. Not that (RTR) is not a good team, but I think we should’ve been right in the game if nothing else, not getting blown out.”
The Knights’ defense has been their calling card this year, as RTR entered the game allowing just 14 points a game. That unit was able to contain Jackson Kruse unlike most other teams have been able to this year.
Kruse was sacked twice and finished with 94 rush yards. He was able to complete 50% of his passes and throw for 153 yards.
On the other side of the ball, Oakley Bornitz and Aiden Sanow both had five tackles, and Yackley had an interception for the home team.
• After Friday, the Panthers will host KMS on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Their final regular-season game is Tuesday, Oct. 20, at home against the BOLD Warriors.
