ARIZONA SPORTS NETWORK - ARIZONA FOOTBALL LEAGUE
 
COCONINO PANTHERS FOOTBALL 2017
W PAGE 21-14 L GREENWAY 46-14 L PAYSON 14-16 L MOHAVE 21-0 WINSLOW
LEE WILLIAMS @ BRADSHAW PRESCOTT MINGUS @ FLAGSTAFF NAU
Head Coach: Jeremiah Smith - Offensive Coordinator:   -   Defensive Coordinator: Jamie Anderson
OL/DLine: Chris Simpson - WR Mike Thompson - JV DC Chad Meier
 
Jeremiah Smith PreSeason Interview
After Greenway Game 
 
 
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Ty Furr JR QB/WR  W2 v Greenway 
 
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Coaches at the Greenway game: Mike Thompson, Chad Meier, Chris Simpson, Jamie Anderson, Jeremiah Smith 
Meet the Coaches:
DC Jamie Anderson  w
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Story, photos: Kevin Pakos for Arizona Sports Network Radio. Sponsored by teh Arizona Football League. Follow on twitter @azflcom or instagram @kpakone. Covering ASU, UA, NAU, JUCO and HS Football.
 
Week 1, home vs Page Sand Devils W 21-14 
The season opened at home for the Panthers. They picked up a win 21-14 over the Page Sand Devils. It was not easy since Page was looking for payback for the overtime loss they took when Coconino traveled to their home last season.

The Panthers started strong on offense and finished stronger on defense. It was the D that locked in the win in the final moments. SO G,C 72 a sack and strip to stop page for good.

By the numbers: Kyle Sauer carried 18 times for 111 yards with one rushing TD plus a game changing two point conversion. He also had a catch for 12 yards. Ty Furr was 4 for 11 and 72 yards, a rushing TD and passing TD. Justin Brown added 69 yards on 10 carries. Zack Christopher had a catch for 9 yards and 17 yards on three runs.

Abel Harris scored a TD on his 36 yard catch. Kyle Casados added 15 yards on his catch. Also went one for two on extra point attemps.

Coco is a very young team with many sophmores getting a lot of playing time. The program is building, becoming stronger as the players learn to trust each other. In this game the azfl picked some players for MVP, Players of the Game or POG's. They were 3 Ty Furr QB/WR JR, 24 Kyle Sauer RB/OLB JR, 72 Riley Darnel DO/OL SO, 76 Cayden Fordyce LT/DT JR, 61 Dawson Buckley C/DE JR. Congrats on the win.
Week 2 on the road at Greenway Demons in Phoenix, loss 46-14 
The bus ride to Phoenix was hot, very hot. The return trip was even less fun as the bus seemed to have trouble going over 30 miles per hour up the mountain. It was a non conference game. Demons won 46-14. It did not help that the following guys did not play; SR FB/NG 40 Zack Christopher, JR DT,T  Caydence Fordyce and JR RB 24 Kyle Sauer.

Mistakes by the young Panthers would prove costly on this night. Turnovers, missed tackles and the Demons returning an interception for a TD in the first half made it tough to rebound in the second half. The half ended with Greenway leading 39-7.

Ty Furr carried it in from six yards out for the first TD in the second quarter. In the final quarter Furr tossed a TD pass to SR WR 12 Connor Wesson. SO K/WR/S 32 Kyle Casados hit the extra points. Connor had a nice punt return in the fourth.  

The Coco players dug deep and played well for a young squad. In the second half they came out and got some work in with sustained drives. The community has a lot to be proud of in their football team. There will be some great players and amazing games for the Panthers history books as they make Flagstaff proud in 2017.


MVP-POG's for this week: SR 15 Justin Brown RB/SB, SR TE/DE 14 Abel Harris, JR FB/MLB 61 Dawson Buckley.
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Week 3 at Payson Longhorns 14-16
 
A long bus ride from Flagstaff to Payson, made worse by a weather delay, Kickoff was at 9:40. The Panthers struggled with the weather and delay and found themselves trailing 10-0 at halftime. They came out and began a comeback that would give them a 14-10 lead in the fourth. Payson scored late in the game to go ahead 16-14. After a Panther turnover gave Payson the ball back inside their own 20, Coconino forced a Payson punt with 40 seconds left. Instead of getting the ball back, Coco was called for running into the kicker and the Longhorns ran out the clock.

The Panthers were tested on this trip by the weather and delay. After a slow start they showed how much they believed in each other and fought hard for the win. It did not go their way on the scoreboard, but they did become stronger. Fans of the team can take heart knowing this very young squad can't, no won't quit, ever. The Coconino Panthers showed everyone in Flagstaff that the foundation for a great program was laid in the midst of this storm.
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ddd All the scoring for Coco took place in the second half. Here is the breakdown of who, what, how: .

In the fourth,  SR TE/DE Able Harris took a pass from Ty Furr and turned it into a 68 yard TD. The two point try failed.

SR RB Justin Brown had a 52 yard kick off return plus ran 9 times for 51 yards..

JR QB/FS Ty Furr was 4 of 5 for 108 yards passing with a TD pass and TD run plus he ran for two point conversion.

SR FB/NG Zack Christopher had a huge interception in the second half.

MVP's for the day: Abel Harris, Zack Christopher
Week 4 at Mohave Thunderbirds L 21-0
Sometimes we have to stop and remind ourselves that high school athletes are still young and have complicated lives. The kids that add the workload to be competitive athletes in addition to being students need to be commended and given room to be kids. Life is tough, let's find the good things these student athletes accomplish in each event and tell people about it.
 
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Thunderbirds stop Panthers in Bullhead City

An injury depleted Panthers team traveled to Bullhead City to play the Mohave Thunderbirds. SR Bryce Wright filled in for the injured QB JR Ty Furr and did a good job at the helm.


HC Jeremiah Smith Said "The defense played lights out." he added
"The D had 4 sacks and created 2 turnovers." "We had a hard time controlling the defensive line of Mohave on Friday." "The defense held Mohave at critical points and gave the offense chances we just could not capitalize on."

The defense made a bunch of key stops including in goal line and on fourth downs. The special teams was a bright spot and recovered an onside kick. Coconino is a young team that is building a program. Mohave was looking for payback after they lost in Flagstaff last season.

The Panthers played some amazing "no quit" football as usual. Being outmanned each week is tough, but the young players give everything they have each game. This team is building a solid foundation and becoming a good unit in the process. Losing is tough. But the City of Flagstaff can be proud of these young men.

For the breakdown on how the Mohave team did and names of their top players against Coconino, check the local Flagstaff paper. They cover Coco's foes very well.

We have some picks for our players of the week, MVP's:
14 SR DE/TE Abel Harris
26 SR DE/WR Bret McGowan
88 JR OL Keegan Trainer
Congrats these talented kids, keep working hard. We enjoy watching you play.
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