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The resurgence of the Maumee football program under coach Evan Karchner has been a fun ride, with 13 wins over the last two seasons and a home playoff game last fall.

The flip side is 13 losses handed out to opponents, giving those teams extra motivation to get even. Programs such as Springfield, Genoa and Otsego likely have their games against Maumee circled in red.

That success has turned the Panthers from hunters into the hunted.

However opponents approach it, Karchner said his team won’t change the mindset that has carried them this far.

“It doesn’t change our process and how we do things and how we prepare for games and how we want to play,” Karchner said. “I tell our kids all the time, it doesn’t matter who we play. We want to play at a certain level … and let the wins and losses come as they may.

“But obviously it’s a little bit different now, right? I think we have a little bit more confidence in ourselves. I think our goals are a little bit different than they were in 2023, and they should be. We’re not just hoping to win a game. We want to win championships. We want to be in the playoffs, and we know that we’re kind of up there with those teams that think about that stuff. So we know we have to bring our A game every week.”

Karchner’s first season in 2023 ended at 5-5. Last year, Maumee went 8-3 and hosted its first home playoff game in more than a decade.

Karchner said he doesn’t dwell on those eight wins. Instead, he focuses on what his team could have done to flip those three losses.

Others, though, have paid attention to the wins and pointed out Maumee’s victories have come mostly against struggling programs. In Karchner’s tenure, the Panthers have beaten just one team with a winning record — last year’s win over Genoa.

Karchner said he isn’t concerned about the critics.

“Not too long ago, they didn’t think we were going to win any games. So now it’s like, ‘Oh, well, you’re not winning good-enough games.’ And then we beat Genoa, and it’s, ‘Well, you beat one of them.’ And I’m sure if we find a way to win another big game, there’ll be someone else saying something else. That’s just how it is.”

The Panthers will get a chance to prove themselves this fall with games against Napoleon, Oak Harbor, Eastwood and Otsego.

In their first two years in the Northern Buckeye Conference, Maumee faced Oak Harbor and Eastwood in Weeks 4 and 5. With a new scheduling rotation this season, the Panthers won’t see them until the stretch run — Oak Harbor in Week 9, Eastwood in Week 10 and Otsego in Week 8.

That late gauntlet means Maumee will be playoff tested by Week 11.

“We’re not worried about our schedule,” Karchner said. “Whoever we’re going to play, we’re going to show up to their field or they’re going to come to the Kaz (Kazmaier Stadium), and we’re going to give them our best, and we’re going to prepare to win.”

Expectations around the program have shifted. Karchner said while the approach hasn’t changed, the goals have.

“I tell our guys all the time — and a lot of people look at me like I’m nuts — our goal should be we’re winning 10 games,” he said. “We want to win 10 games. We want to hold up a trophy. We want to go undefeated. Why not us?”

Photo courtesy of Pride of the Panthers
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