PANORA — The South Hamilton Hawks football team returned to action on Friday night, as they made the trip to Guthrie County to take on the Panorama Panthers in non-district action at Panorama High School. South Hamilton entered at 0-1, as Panorama entered at 0-1.
Friday’s start was another inauspicious start for the Hawks, as Panorama scored on its first drive with a 22-yard pass from Cruz Crandall to Latyn Ashworth to make it 7-0. Following a fumble on the opening drive for the Hawks, Crandall went to the air again and found Reed Draper for a 36-yard touchdown pass to put the Panthers ahead 14-0 just 5 minutes into the game. South Hamilton would settle down as Wyatt Gelder scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 14-6, before Gelder scored again midway through the 2nd quarter on a 21-yard touchdown run as the game would be tied 14-14 after the 2-point conversion. Panorama would strike before halftime as Crandall found Latyn Ashworth for their 2nd touchdown connection with 1:38 to go in the half as the Panthers led 21-14 at halftime.
South Hamilton started the 2nd half with the ball and would milk over half of the 3rd quarter with their opening drive, capped by a Wyatt Gelder 31-yard touchdown run to put the Hawks ahead 22-21. Panorama answered by the end of the 3rd quarter with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Cruz Crandall to Reed Draper to put the Panthers ahead 28-22. South Hamilton would have opportunities to tie and take the lead, but could not convert as Panorama held on for a 28-22 victory.
The KQWC Player of the Game was South Hamilton running back Wyatt Gelder, who had 19 carries for 152 yards and 3 touchdowns, while also adding 3.5 tackles. Junior fullback Maddux Becker had 17 carries for 56 yards, as quarterback Garrett Johnson was 4/5 for 88 yards passing the football.
South Hamilton football returns to action on Friday, when they travel down Highway 175 to take on the Southeast Valley Jaguars in their non-district finale at the Southeast Valley Football Complex in Gowrie, with kickoff at 7 PM.