PANORA, IA — Ranked either number one or two — depending upon your poll of preference — io Class 1A, defending state champion Van Meter simply overwhelmed an already-undermanned Panorama team, 69-3, in district 7 action Friday.
“Van Meter is one of the best teams in the state, regardless of classification,” Panorama head coach Mike Kauzlarich said. “We had numerous players banged up and not playing, which led us to playing a bunch of younger players. I thought those young players showed a lot of competitive effort and spirit.”
Touchdown runs of 15 yards and of three yards, an 88-yard scoring strike and runs of eight and nine yards, respectively, had the guests out front, 35-0, after just 12 minute of action.
Jacob Walker erased the goose egg for the Panthers (1-3, 0-1) with a 22-yard field goal in the second frame, with a 37-yard passing TD creating a 41-3 halftime bulge for the visitors.
Runs of 36 yards and 20 yards and a 47-yard interception return for a score moved the margin to 62-3 with a quarter remaining. A 50-yard run capped the outburst.
The Van Meter offense was balanced, passing for 179 yard and rushing for 177 while Panorama threw the ball for 91 yards while managing just 12 yards on the ground.
“Freshman Braylen Meinecke had an outstanding game,” Kauzlarich said. “Without watching too much film, four guys really stood out as playing very well despite the score.”
“Cayden VanMeer is one of those as he played very efficient and really guided the offense that was starting on senior and one junior — himself,” the coach added. “Will Knapp played tremendously at linebacker, hitting down hill and getting into the play. He has to work on finishing his tackles but he did a great job with play recognition.”
VanMeer was 15-28-3 for 60 yards, with Gavin Lindstrom hitting 1-of-2 passes for a yard.
Meinecke (6-29), Landon Kirtley (5-20), Connor Love (1-11), Knapp (1-1) and Laytyn Ashworth (3-1) all caught passes for the Panthers.
Sawyer Simmons (20-15), Austin Wagner (2-11), VanMeer (8-6), and Keaton VanGundy 1 (minus-20) ran the ball for the hosts.
“Braylen Meinecke, as I mentioned earlier, was another who stood out,” Kauzlarich noted. “The last guy was Landon (Kirtley), who made some great blocks and receptions on offense as well as some great snaps as the ‘mike’ linebacker for our team.”
Walker and Ashton Kunce each recovered a Bulldog fumble, with Kirtley making three solo tackles and Knapp two while having a sack and a tackle for loss.
“It wasn’t the outcome we wanted but we knew it could have been worse when facing one of the top teams in 1A,” Kauzlarich said. “At times we had five freshmen and five sophomores on the field.”
Panorama returns to action Friday when they entertain Interstate-35 for the yearly Homecoming game.
The Roadrunners are 2-2, 1-0. They opened with a 20-7 to Southeast Valley and with a 27-14 setback against visiting Pleasantville. Since then they have topped W-G, 24-14, at home and were 35-0 winners last week at Nodaway Valley.
I-35 held a 26-6 lead entering their game with Panorama last year in Truro. The Panthers scored twice in the fourth quarter to close to within 26-20 but could not complete the comeback.
