Panthers are getting stronger!

They say, “That which doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.”

Well actually, the saying was written by German philosopher Fredrich Nietzske and is literally translated as “that which does not kill us makes us stronger.”

But, if you’re looking for something to illustrate this statement, look no further than the Paola Panthers football team over the last ten days.

Rewind to Thursday, October 28, 2010. The Panthers were riding the crest of a six game winning streak, and playing host to the undefeated Louisburg Wildcats in the final game of the regular season, as well as playing for a district championship.

Now the district championship in Kansas Class 4A Football really doesn’t mean much. No, thanks to the “Holton/Hayden” rule of a few years ago, winning the district championship in Kansas football is roughly a kin to a tie in soccer, or kissing your sister, it really doesn’t count for much.

Oh, it’s nice to say you’re a district champion, but all it really gets you is one more game, against a district runner-up, as you embark on the roughest ten days of football for Kansas Classes 4A and below. Because the state activities association, in it’s infinite wisdom, created this extra layer of games, called the “Bi-District” level, which allowed northeast Kansas high school super-powers Topeka-Hayden and Holton High Schools BOTH the opportunity to continue playing since they were more often than not in the same district year after year, winning and losing at the district level just doesn’t have quite the mystique anymore.

Now, don’t get me wrong, if it weren’t for the Hayden/Holton rule, the Panthers would not be playing right now, and we would not be able to bask in the glory of having four, count ‘em, four, Frontier League teams squaring off in two of the Class 4A sectional games this coming Friday night.

But anyway, ten days ago the Panthers had erased the adversity of the first two weeks of the season, and were rolling on in the season, riding a six game win streak and looking to hand the Wildcats their first loss of the season.

Well, it was a good plan, but you know what they (and exactly who are “they” anyway) say about the best laid plans of mice and men? The Wildcats were going to have none of that talk, and stopped the Panthers cold in a 21-3 victory and relegating Paola to the “runner-up” place in the bi-district bracket and a trip to Fort Scott for the opening round of the playoffs just five days later.

This is were the real adversity starts to kick in.

On the Panthers first scoring drive of the game, junior quarterback Seth Kern came to the sidelines with an injured right hand and did not return to the game. Kern not only directs the Panther offense, but is a staple on the defensive side of the ball. In addition, the Panthers have several other player who are “nicked up”. Bumps and bruises are a football players badge of honor this late in the season. But it’s the late season dings, the loss of a key player in the middle of a playoff run, its playing in an unfamiliar position, there’s a bunch of things that can happen to a team this late in the season, and most of them are bad.

That brings me back to my original though, “that which does not kill you, makes you stronger.”

None of the bumps in the road the Panthers have suffered the last ten days have killed them, they have, as was witnessed Saturday night in Independence, made them stronger.

“We didn’t blame anybody, we stuck together, we’re a family, and we just kept working hard,” said Panther senior Dustin Matz when talking about coming back off a tough loss to Louisburg last week. “Our motto is just get better every week and I feel we’ve done that, we’re getting better.”

You bet they’re getting better, the Panthers turned in probably their most impressive defensive performance of the season on Saturday, it started with the Panthers stopping the Bulldogs on four plays at the Panther 19 yard line after a game opening fumble by Paola and ended with the defense stopping the Bulldogs on four plays from their 18 yard line to preserve the shut out victory.

In between those two defensive stands were series after series of bone jarring hits from the Panther defenders in route to holding the state’s leading rusher Bulldog senior Matt Bromley to next to nothing on the ground and keeping an offensive that had averaged 41 points per game coming into the game to a big, fat “0”.

“Getting a shutout was big, especially when you’re talking about a runner the caliber of the Bromley kid for Independence,” said Panthers Head Coach Mike Dumpert. “I think he was the leader in the state last year, and leading the state this year, our kids did an exceptional job on that.”

“We wanted to get this done (shutout), it sends a statement to the other teams, we’re not here to mess around,” said Panther junior linebacker Brandon Goodman. “We’re going to be there to hit you in the mouth every play, that’s what the whole Frontier League plays like, so some of these other teams, when they see us coming and hit them like that, they’re just not ready for it.”

So now the Panthers get a chance to avenge a couple of their three losses on the season. First up is Baldwin, which handed the Panthers a season opening loss, when the rolled into Panther Stadium and gave Paola a heavy dose of their own medicine. The physical nature of the Baldwin game caught the Panthers off guard, I’d like to think it won’t this time around. Then, if they take care of business against Baldwin, and no matter who wins the “Wildcat” war in Louisburg, it will be another re-match with the Panthers facing a team that handed them a loss in the regular season. DeSoto followed up the Baldwin loss for Paola by putting them in a 0-2 hole with a victory in Paola in week two, and, of course, we all know about the loss ten days ago at the hand of Louisburg.

But through all that, through an 0-2 start, a disappointing loss to Louisburg and the loss of a key offensive and defensive component, the Panthers have continued to grow, continued to improve and it’s something that pleases Panther Head Coach Mike Dumpert.

“The offensive growth has been somewhat stymied through injury but defensively we’re getting better,” Dumpert said. “One of the things we preach, and you guys have been around me long enough and heard this enough, we want to get better each week and defensively we are getting better.”

Frankly, my money’s on a Paola vs Louisburg rematch. No disrespect to either Baldwin or DeSoto, but I really feel Paola and Louisburg will be facing off again in two weeks.

I called it right after the first Paola vs Louisburg game ten days ago, and I’m sticking with my gut feeling. And, if that feeling holds true, then the two teams can meet for the second time this year, with something tangible on the line, a shot at a state championship.