IMA SPORTS

With new starters dotting the field at nearly every position group on both sides of the ball, growing pains were expected for the Maumee football team. What no one saw coming was just how painful the season opener would be.

Springfield exploited the Panthers’ inexperience Friday night, scoring early, often and easily in a 42-14 loss to open the 2025 season.

“I think we have guys that want to win, and I think we have guys who are OK with losing,” Maumee coach Evan Karchner said. “I’m not sure we have a kid on our team that needs to win. … We’ve got to find guys that need to win. This is a good learning experience for us.”

The game carried an eerie resemblance to the 2023 opener, when Maumee stunned Springfield to launch Karchner’s tenure. This time it was the Blue Devils kickstarting the Sam Arredondo era. The new coach’s squad, which hasn’t posted a winning record in nearly a decade, looked sharp in his debut.

Karchner gave Springfield full credit.

“They came out and wanted to play, and to be honest, they reminded me of us in 2023,” he said. “They battled. They played physical, they ran to the ball. That’s a different team over there — and to be honest, we’re a different team.”

Springfield struck quickly. After forcing a Maumee three-and-out on their first possession, quarterback Logan Goodrick hit Gabriel Gregory for an 85-yard touchdown screen pass on the Blue Devils second play of the game. Two more Goodrick scoring throws stretched the lead to 21-0 before the Panthers answered.

Quarterback Ben Kubicz capped a 10-play, 85-yard drive – their best one of the evening – with a 16-yard scoring pass to Eli Dodson just before halftime.

But Springfield’s dominance resumed after the break. Gregory scored twice on the ground, and Goodrick added his fourth touchdown pass to finish with 272 yards through the air.

Kubicz went 10-of-18 for 98 yards, with Dodson catching five passes for 47 yards and Brock Heard pulling in four for 39.

Afterward, Karchner shouldered the blame, saying he’s not sure he’s doing enough to get his players ready to play and instill that need to win in them. 

“We all wanted the dream season,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t reach your goals, but we’ve got to bounce back and figure out what changes we have to make.”

Next up: a road trip to Napoleon, which lost its opener 20-19 to rival Defiance.

“We’re focused on Napoleon,” Karchner said. “We have to move on. There’s nothing we can do about this. We got embarrassed there a little bit, but there’s nothing to dwell on.”

Photo courtesy of Pride of the Panthers
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