The Salina South Cougars fell to the Derby Panthers 63-0 on Friday night at Panther Stadium in Derby. After a solid offensive outing in the Mayor’s Cup against Salina Central one week ago, the Cougars offense fell dormant on Friday night.

The Cougars’ defense began the evening on a high note as they forced Derby to turn it over on downs on the opening possession of the game. The Cougars own offensive drive was thwarted as quarterback Landon Putman fumbled as he was sacked, giving the Panthers a short field which they used to score their first touchdown of the game.

The Panthers offense turned it on for the rest of the first half as they scored touchdowns on their final four possessions of the half as they took a 35-0 lead into the halftime break. The Panthers then scored touchdowns on their first four possessions of the second half, all on the ground, to reach our final 63-0 score.

For the Cougars their offense was limited but was strongly led once again by senior running back Carson Power. After a 186 yard performance against Salina Central in the Mayor’s Cup, Power once again served as the bell cow back against Derby. Power finished the night with 55 yards on 27 carries.

The big change of the night was at quarterback as senior Layson Sajdak replaced starter Landon Putman midway through the second quarter under center. This game served as the first time Sajdak has taken snaps as a quarterback for the Cougars.

The Nex-Tech Wireless Player of the Game was Carson Power for the Cougars. On a night where the entire offense struggled to find traction, time and again head coach Sam Sellers was able to turn to his senior tailback to find some positive momentum. The H&R Block of the Game went to Wide Receiver Layson Sajdak, who had a great block in the second quarter, bowling over a Derby defender.

The Cougars will now head back home as they welcome Campus for their week three matchup at home next Friday night.