Panther Football Falls in Season Opener
Football weather on the first Friday night of September is something that most Kansans are not used to, but the Red Raiders and Panthers meeting up in the first week of the season is not new. For the second straight season, two NCKL foes met up for game number one of the year as Concordia took on Wamego.
The 2025 score turned out to be very similar to 2024 as Wamego emerged victorious with a 40-6 win on Friday, September 5th. Wamego took the opening kickoff and started at their own 33-yard line. With a methodical drive, the Red Raiders continued to wear down the young Panther front 7 and executed a 15-play 67-yard drive capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Cash Threet.
After the missed PAT, Concordia began its first drive of the season and quickly found out how good the Wamego defense was. The Panthers quickly went three and out, losing six yards on the drive.
Wamego took over after the punt on their own 35-yard line, and after a long drive to open the season, the Red Raiders only needed one play to find the endzone. A 65-yard pass from quarterback Logan Fulton to Dominic Falco gave the Red Raiders a 13-0 lead.
After a failed fake punt by Concordia on the next drive, Wamego was able to quickly strike once again. In just two plays, Fulton found Falco again for the 47-yard touchdown pass. Wamego quickly led 20-0 with 1:02 left in the first quarter and never looked back.
To end the first quarter, once again, the Panthers went 3 and out. Wamego got the ball to start the 2nd frame and once again only needed two plays to find the endzone. Wamego hit their 3rd big pass play for a touchdown in a row, a 44-yard touchdown pass from Fulton to Reed McDiffitt, giving Wamego a 27-0 lead with 11:16 left in the half.
The Panthers would eventually settle into the game after getting burned in the secondary on three straight possessions, as the Concordia defense only gave up two touchdowns the rest of the night after giving up 3 touchdowns on 5 plays.
Concordia trailing 40-0 with 7:19 to go in the ballgame, the Panthers were backed up 4th and 11 on the 50-yard line. Junior quarterback Drake Blochlinger dropped back and delivered a perfect ball across the middle of the field to find transfer wide receiver out of Abilene, Liam McNutt, who made the catch at the 15, broke out of a tackle, and found the endzone. The Panthers avoided the shutout thanks to that big 50-yard pass.
Concordia ended the game with only 84 yards of offense and 6 first downs while allowing 467 yards and 20 first downs. The Panther MVP belonged to Parker Jackson, who averaged over 35 yards every punt and made several plays on both offense and defense. The H&R Block of the Game belonged to Ian Loudermilk, who had blocked for Ayden Krier on a Panther pass play.
Concordia is 0-1 on the season and 0-1 in NCKL play. The Panthers come home on Friday, September 12th, to host rival Beloit with a kickoff at 7 from Harold M Clark Stadium.