LAST MEETING — Panorama’s defense was dominant, holding West Central Valley to just 26 yards on 10 rushes while yielding 103 passing yards in a 44-0 win. Luke South threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns for the Panthers, with then-junior Gunnar Grunsted having his best night of the season, catching four passes for 93 yards and two TDs and scoring once while gaining 45 yards on 15 carries.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS — The story of the season for Panorama may be the vanished rushing game, which is averaging less than 45 yards per game in their five district losses.
That said, the Panthers have shown the occasional spark on the ground, totaling 1,193 yards and 17 scores. Brody Rickheim (54-364, 6 TDs), South (75-217, 3 TDs), Blaine Barber (24-199, 5 TDs) and Grunsted (44-180, 1 TD) lead the attack.
Sophomore signal-caller South is 90-170-9 for 1,074 yards and six scores through the air.
Barber (35-343, 1 TD), Conner Meinecke (21-239, 1 TD), Spencer Hunt (6-163, 3 TDs), Tanner Godfrey (9-138, 1 TD) and Gracen Wellberg (10-72) pace the receiving corps.
Grunsted’s 64 tackles and 57.5 stops by Trey Cobb lead a defense that has intercepted 11 passes and fallen on eight fumbles.
South leads Class 1A in punting among those with at least 20 attempts by averaging exactly 40 yards (21-840) per effort.
ABOUT THE WILDCATS — If Panorama wonders about their rushing attack, WCV hardly has one, ranking 53rd of 56 teams in 1A with only 505 total yards and only four rushing TDs. Brock Wolfe (46-311, 4 TDs), Carson Wadle (24-114) and Brice Sechrist (27-62) are the top gainers.
Whatever struggles the ground game has do not appear to have infected the passing game, as Wadle is 95-226-18 for 1,696 yards and 16 TDs despite the opposition focusing on stopping the Wildcat aerial attack.
Cole Arnburg has 596 yards and 10 TDs on 20 catches, a whopping 29.8 yards per catch average. Wolfe is always impressive, averaging 21.8 per snag with 24 grabs for 522 yards and four TDs. William Larsen has also been key, pulling down 25 flips for 249 yards.
The defense has intercepted seven passes and fallen on eight opposition fumbles.
OUTLOOK — WCV was a failed last-moments two-point conversion from forcing overtime against Madrid (35-33) but has only one district win, joining Panorama in topping Ogden. The Wildcats were 33-12 winners in Ogden, with the Panthers winning, 40-24, in Panora.
There should be running room for the Panthers this week, but the defense was not look at WCV’s 2-6 record and last year’s lopsided win and realize Arnburg and Wolfe can strike at any moment. If the hosts can sustain drives they are likely to end the year on a positive note.
DISTRICT 6
| District | Overall | Point Diff Avg |
|||||
| Win | Loss | Tie | Win | Loss | Tie | ||
| Van Meter | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 17.00 |
| South Hamilton | 5 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 |
| Eagle Grove | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3.33 |
| NW Webster | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.67 |
| Madrid | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -0.67 |
| Panorama | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | -8.33 |
| West Central Valley | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | -8.83 |
| Ogden | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | -12.17 |
Friday’s Games
(End regular season)
West Central Valley at Panorama
Eagle Grove at South Hamilton
Madrid at No. 3 Van Meter
Ogden at NW Webster
