Jefferson High’s volleyball and football teams advanced to the next round of the Class B playoffs with strong performances last weekend — the volleyball girls taking second at District in Manhattan and the football squad beating Glasgow, 27-18, in Glasgow. Great job Panthers!
The Panther football team finished fourth during the regular season in the strong South District; the prize for that was a 400-mile road trip to face Glasgow, the top seed in the North. The Panthers were determined to show that they were ready to play.
In the first quarter, both teams were feeling each other out. The Panthers received the ball first, but a penalty put them in a 4th down situation and they were forced to punt, giving Glasgow the ball on its own 42-yard line. Parker Wagner came up with a great play to knock down a Scottie pass, and on a 4th and two Glasgow tried to advance and failed.
The Panthers got the ball back on their own 33. With a bigger line and an excellent backfield, Jefferson moved down the field and looked to score, but a pass that could have put points on the board was knocked down.
The first quarter ended with no score — but seven seconds into the second quarter, the Panthers went up 7-0 on a 37-yard pass for six and a PAT kick by Kolbe Michaud. The Panthers added another touchdown with a pass from Tyzer Zody to Parker Wagner, and the half ended with the score holding 14-0.
In the second half, Glasgow scored with a 43-yard run, but Dalton Noble blocked the point-after kick. Both teams struggled to find the end zone after that, and the third quarter ended with the Panthers up 14-6.
In the fourth, Brady Armstrong came up with a huge quarterback sack that left Glasgow with 4th and 24. The Panthers took over and scored another touchdown to make it 20-6. Glasgow passed for a touchdown with 5:32 left, but Jefferson struck right back, as Jack Johnson followed Dalton Noble into the endzone for the score. Hunter Stevens’s PAT was good to make it 27-12. Glasgow tacked on a final score with 5.2 seconds left, but the Panthers walked off with a 27-18 victory.
With the win, the Panthers travel to Eureka this Saturday for their second playoff game. Eureka is the number-two seed in the West. Good luck Panthers.
Volleyball makes Divisional
The Lady Panther volleyball squad came into the District 5B tournament as the number-two seed, just behind undefeated rival Townsend. That’s pretty much how things played out.
Jefferson opened the tournament against Lone Peak. The Bighorns finished the regular season in last place, but in this match, they looked much better than their record. The Panthers put down the first two points and had a 9-7 lead, but Lone Peak came back to go up 11-9. A kill and an ace by Cameron Toney put the Panthers up 12-11, but Lone Peak again fought back to go up 18-13, and went on to upset the Panthers 25-21.
But the Jefferson squad wasn’t fazed. Arena Faler started the second with a kill and the Panthers went on an 8-0 run. An ace by MacKenzie Layng gave the Panthers an 18-5 lead, Toney powered the Panthers to a 23-5 lead and they went on to win game two 25-8.
In the third, an ace by Maddy Averill started a run and the Panthers powered their way to a 25-11 win. Faler powered over three kills to start the 4th set and the Panthers went on to win 25-15 and the match in four.
Next up was Ennis, and this time the Panthers were ready to play, winning in straight sets, 25-11, 25-14 and 25-19. That put them into the championship match with Townsend. Two good teams faced off for the title and the better placing at the Divisional tournament.
A block point by Cameron Toney gave the Panthers a 12-9 lead in the first set, and after three ties, the Panthers prevailed 25-22. They went on to take the second set, too, 25-17. The third was exciting as both teams fought hard, The Panthers took a 10-5 lead and held a 15-13 lead on an ace serve by Toney — but then the mistake bug bit, and Townsend came back to take its first lead of the set 17-16. It was tied at 21 and 22, but Townsend went on a 3 to 1 run to edge the Panthers 25-23.
The fourth set was another close one as the teams traded the lead several times. The Panthers took a 3-1 lead, then the teams tied at 4, 6, 7, and 8. Jefferson led 13-12 on a Faler kill, but a hit out of bounds by the Panthers gave Townsend a 22-18 lead and the Bulldogs went on to win 25-20.
In the final, 15-point set, it was tied at 12 and 13, but Townsend put down the last two points to win the match 15-13. Both teams have a shot at the Division title, along with Huntley Project, which has won many titles over the years. This will be a very exciting volleyball tournament.
Here is the schedule for Thursday’s first round in Columbus. Colstrip faces Columbus in a play-in game at 10 a.m. Then it’s Joliet vs. Ennis at 11:30 a.m., Jefferson vs. Huntley Project at 1:30 p.m., Baker vs. Shepherd at 3:15 p.m., and Townsend vs. the Colstrip-Columbus winner at 5 p.m. The top three teams advance to the State Class B tournament in Bozeman, Nov. 9-11.
