PANORA — A trio of touchdowns in the first quarter helped lift Panorama to a 41-10 win over visiting Kuemper Catholic Friday in Class 1A District 8 action.
The Panthers finish the regular season 5-2 and have allowed just 10 points in their final four games. The Knights end their regular season 1-6.
The hosts were quickly on the board as Evan Taylor pulled in a 26-yard touchdown pass from Dominic Walker for a 6-0 lead. Dominic Walker hooked up with Preston Walker for a 46-yard TD minutes later, with a 10-yard Dominic Walker run (he added two PAT kicks) pushing the margin to 20-0 after one quarter.
The Knights booted a 33-yard field goal to get on the board, the first points allowed by the Panther defense in 13 quarters.
The hosts responded with a five-yard scoring burst from Wyatt Clark, with a two-point conversion attempt failing, creating a 26-3 score.
The visitors made it 26-10 at the intermission with a two-yard run, but that was the final damage the Knights would inflict.
Preston Walker scored on a one-yard dive in the third quarter, with a two-point conversion setting the score at 34-10. A three-yard TD run from Gavin Godfrey and a Dominic Walker PAT kick in the fourth quarter capped the scoring.
Dominic Walker was 12-of-19 passing for 265 yards. He pitched two TDs and was intercepted once.
Evan Taylor (4-108, 1 TD), Zach Rizzuti (2-60), Preston Walker (2-58, 1 TD), Drew Taylor (3-30) and Jack Weinkoetz (1-9) caught passes for the Panthers.
Panorama ran for 122 yards and four scores on 39 carries. Dominic Walker (15-59, 1 TD), Clark (5-29, 1 TD), Hunter Pauley (4-18), Preston Walker (5-17, 1 TD), Godfrey (2-4, 1 TD), Cayden VanMeer (1-1) and Malte Leuneberg (2, minus-6) all toted the pigskin for home team.
Wyatt Appleseth had six tackles, two sacks and two stops for loss of yardage. Evan Taylor had five tackles and Godfrey four, with Lucas Leiferman and Pauley each intercepting a pass. Leiferman now has five thefts for the season.
Panorama hosts East Marshall (2-5) Friday in the opening round of the postseason. The other game in 1A Pod 12 features Pella Christian (4-3) hosting Hudson (2-4). The two winners will meet Oct. 23.
All first and second round postseason games will kick off at 7 p.m.
