GRIDIRON GLANCE ’25: Panther Creek Panthers

August 17, 2025 at 7:25 am Derrick Stuckly

VALERA – The Panther Creek Panthers managed just four games in 2024 before injuries, extreme youth, and a lack of numbers resulted in finishing with varsity forfeits and playing a JV schedule. With more players out for football in 2025, head coach Gary Beam is hopeful the Panthers can complete the year and threaten for their first playoff berth since 2022.

“We’re still going to be young but most of our guys are all coming back from last year with the exception of three or four,” said fourth-year Panther Creek head coach Gary Beam. “We’ve got a lot of experience because toward the end of the season the injuries were so much that we were basically playing with an all freshman team. They all got a lot of experience, it wasn’t a great season for them, but their attitudes have been great and they’ve done great work through the offseason.”

Players to watch for Panther Creek in 2025 include Caleb Storey, Blake Wilber, Cobi Howard, Izaak Olinger, and Aidan Wyatt.

“The difference in this year and last year is a few skill kids we’re going to have this year that we didn’t have last year,” Beam said. “Junior Blake Wilber is one of those. He’s 6-2 and has pretty good hands at receiver and safety and should be an impact player for us. Cobi Howard is another 6-1 kid that moved in last year during basketball and is a phenomenal athlete. He could be a valuable asset. Caleb Storey is going to be one of those kids we’re leaning on early. He’s a tailback for us and was a state qualifier in powerlifting as a freshman. Izaak Olinger is another one of our sophomores that played a lot for us last year. He’s moving over to fullback this year and probably one of our outside linebackers. We have a freshman moving up their year, Aidan Wyatt, he’s going to be a tremendous athlete. If we can keep him grounded early he’ll have a great season. He’ll play a little quarterback and tailback for us, probably play a little defensive end and in the secondary.”

The Panthers open the season at home against Priddy (Aug. 29), visit Mullin (Sept. 5), host Water Valley (Sept. 12), then head to Lueders-Avoca (Sept. 19), Paint Creek (Sept. 26) and Blackwell (Oct. 4) for three consecutive weeks to close the pre-district slate.

“Early on our defense has to improve,” Beam said. “That was an absolute killer for us last year and it’s something we’ve stressed. Our overall speed should be better so that should help our defense. Offensively, we have got to finish drives. That’s something last year early in the season when we were able to move the ball a little bit, we couldn’t finish a drive. We have to be able to do that. If you can’t score points you’re not going to have a chance to win a game. If we can do that 2-3 times before district maybe we can put them in a position where they’re still battling in a position to go to the playoffs.”

Panther Creek hosts Lohn (Oct. 10) to start district, then heads to Brookesmith (Oct. 17), then welcomes No. 3 Richland Springs (Oct. 24) before its bye. The Panthers close the regular season at Rochelle (Nov. 7).

“I think the kids are going to compete at a higher level this year and I think they will find a little success,” Beam said. “We have a few more play makers this year and we can open the offense up. If we can do that, we ought to be able to find some success and get in the win column. We don’t have any seniors, we’ll have all these kids back, so the more success they have now, the better it will be for us in the future.”

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PANTHER CREEK PANTHERS 2025 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

August 29	Priddy	7:30 p.m.
September 05	at Mullin	7:30 p.m.
September 12	Water Valley	7:30 p.m.
September 19	at Lueders-Avoca	7:30 p.m.
September 26	at Paint Creek	7:30 p.m.
October 04	at Blackwell	7:30 p.m.
October 10	Lohn*	7:30 p.m.
October 17	at Brookesmith*	7:30 p.m.
October 24	Richland Springs*	7:30 p.m.
October 31	OPEN
November 07	at Rochelle*	7:30 p.m.