The score for Saturday's third meeting between these two squads does not tell the entire story. Bay Area easily could have cut this into a one possession game multiple times throughout the affair. However, sometimes in the game of football the ball does not always bounce your way (apologies for the sports cliché). There is a lot to be happy about if you are a Panther fan as they made great strides versus a team that has given them struggles this season. 


Key Plays

Nearing the end zone, the Panthers could not punch it in on this 4th down inverted veer play in what potentially could have cut the Wrangler lead down to four. 

Joe Newman and the Panthers had better luck at the end of the second half. Newman hit the contested catch guru Kameron Pleasant for this 19 yard touchdown catch.

As if the goal line stand by the Wranglers was not heartbreaking enough, tragedy struck. On this play quarterback Isaac Hurd rolls out and finds wide receiver Daniel Crowell Jr. who loses the football en route to a massive gain. 


Number of the Game (1)

In a cruel twist of fate after dealing with turnover problems all season, the Panthers only handed the ball over to the other team once the whole game (not including loss of downs). However, that turnover proved to be costly as it prevented the Panthers from being able to cut the game down to one score midway through the third quarter.


Contrarian Concept 

Our contrarian concept this week is utilizing a formation as a base offense that is usually reserved more as a changeup for pass happy ball clubs. By utilizing an empty backfield, you are able manipulate the middle defender(s) by not allowing the defense to get an extra spy or deep zone defender. 

In a typical play such as this Pleasant touchdown pass shown earlier, the back has a check release based on threats to the quarterback. On plays such as these, the defender guarding the running back is able to act as an extra defender for the majority of the play until the running back releases.


By going empty you essentially force the defense to have three players guarding four rushing gaps and one middle of the field player instead of two. If the middle of the field player decides to play the threat of the quarterback run and attacks the A gap, you now have 4 defensive guys guarding 4 offensive guys while two of them have a forward motion advantage. This leaves each defender on an island with no help. If the linebacker drops to provide help on any crossers or other deep threats, you now have an open A gap for the quarterback to run through depending on which gap the nose tackle occupies. 


Thanks again. Come back for next week's recap after the Panthers travel to Phoenix to take on the Arizona Rattlers @ 3:05pm PST. Take care.