IMA SPORTS

NAPOLEON — Evan Karchner put it pretty plainly after Friday night’s game at Napoleon.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our football team. Have that as your headline,” the Maumee football coach said.

The Panthers might have lost on the scoreboard, 21-14, but the improvement from Week 1 to 2 was tremendous and shows they’re trending in the right direction. That first win is coming soon.

“I just want us to play hard, and whatever that ends up being, win or loss, I’m going to be proud of that,” Karchner said. “We played hard. We had guys fighting until the end, playing both ways. We never flinched. We never faltered.

“I told our guys, that was the most fun I’ve had since last November. Now they understand where we want to go. It was a big confidence booster.”

While they fell to 0-2 this season, the two losses couldn’t be more different. In the Week 1 loss to Springfield, Maumee looked overwhelmed and overpowered. Not so in this week’s showdown with Napoleon. The Panthers matched the always physical and tough Wildcats step for step.

Maumee went into halftime trailing 14-7, scoring on a 2-yard run from Cohen Jones. They tied the game in the third on another short run by Jones, set up by a flea flicker from quarterback Ben Kubicz to Eli Dodson and a 25-yard end-around run from Dodson that put the Panthers inside the 5.

Napoleon later retook the lead on Hayden Groll’s second touchdown of the night. Filling in for injured All-Ohio running back George Eggers, Groll finished with 150 yards on 28 carries.

The Wildcats appeared ready to seal the win in the fourth quarter, driving inside the Maumee 10. On fourth-and-1 at the Panthers’ 6, senior defensive tackle David Cunningham led a stonewall stop in the backfield.

“I just kept telling our guys, ‘Keep playing for me. I promise I’m going to keep coaching,’” Karchner said. “In the huddle, I said someone’s going to have to go make a play. I took a shot, ran a play we hadn’t run all week, and got in the backfield. We had a huge play.

“If you asked anyone in the stadium, if Napoleon has the ball fourth-and-one on our six and they’re going to run the ball and Maumee’s going to stuff them, I think everyone would bet $1 million that they would get a first down.”

Down a score with under 90 seconds to play, the Panthers mounted one final drive, moving inside the Napoleon 30. With less than 10 seconds left, Kubicz’s pass on fourth down was broken up and the Wildcats escaped with the win.

“Maybe we catch that ball at the end, we had a play drawn up for a touchdown, and we were going to go for two,” Karchner said. “One day, we’re going to go do that against a good team. I hope it’s someone like Oak Harbor, Genoa or Eastwood.”

After struggles in the final scrimmage against Clay and in Week 1 against Springfield, Karchner had some concerns about his two-way starters. On Friday, many of those same players met the moment and were at the center of everything.

“I don’t want to be the guy sitting here saying playing both ways is easy, but I want guys that don’t want to get taken off the field, even when they’re tired,” Karchner said. “As bad as it sounds, I want guys who don’t trust other guys. That’s what we want, right? I want to go make the play. This is for me, this is for Maumee, and this is what we stand for. I think our guys wanted to do that tonight.”

Napoleon outgained Maumee 225-108 on the ground, with Kubicz rushing for a team-high 56 yards. The Panthers held the edge in the passing game, as Kubicz completed 12 of 23 attempts for 163 yards. Dodson caught six passes for 110 yards.

Kubicz also made an impact on special teams, booming a 71-yard punt that was downed inside the 10.

The Panthers returned home Friday night without a win, but with renewed confidence. They’ll go for their first victory of 2025 when they host Waite (0-2) next week at Kazmaier Stadium, before diving into the Northern Buckeye Conference schedule.

“We’ve got to keep taking steps forward,” Karchner said. “We didn’t have a perfect week of practice. … We’re not perfect. It’s a long season. If we figured it out just in time for NBC play, I’ll be happy going 7-3. If we win the last seven, it doesn’t really matter.”

Photo courtesy of Pride of the Panthers
Reach IMA at insidemaumeeathletics@gmail.com