Panther power prevails over TOR ‘hawks at Asotin

The Nighthawks of Tekoa, Oakesdale and Rosalia took another hit to their post-season hopes Friday night, falling on the road 19-36 to an Asotin team which appears to be making another powerhouse run in the SE.

Coach Ken Lindgren said the Panthers again fielded a tough team, but added a few mental lapses by the ‘hawks pushed the game Asotin’s way.

“Our kids really came out and played with them, physically,” Lindgren said. “But I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, you can’t make mental mistakes against these big, tough teams.”

TOR came out with an aggressive defensive package of blitzes that stunted the Panther attack, but Asotin’s Levi Forsberg cracked open the scoring in the first quarter with a five-yard touchdown run.

The Nighthawks answered with a long scoring bomb that would have tied the score, but the play was called back because of an ineligible receiver.

Asotin then took the ball and ran plays to counter the TOR blitz. They put 16 points on the board in the second quarter to end the half up 23-0.

The ‘hawks put up 19 second-half points against a lax Asotin defense, but 12 of those came in the last five minutes.

Zach St. John scored two short fourth quarter touchdown runs and Earl Gaines found the end zone in the third from three yards out.

The loss put the Nighthawks at 0-2 in league and 1-3 overall. Asotin pushed its record to 2-0 in league and 5-0 overall.

TOR hosts Waitsburg/ Prescott at Oakesdale Friday. The 4-0 Cardinals come in off a bye week. WP’s last game was a 48-6 road pasting of Liberty Christian. The Cards are 1-0 in SE Big B play.