The Chinook Sugarbeeters began their 2021 Eight-player football season this past Saturday when they welcomed the Park City Panthers to town. The game was a non-conference tilt, which normally wouldn't carry much weight, but this was an early season battle between two teams with high expectations.

The Panthers arrived in town as a popular favorite among statewide media to be playing for the state title in November. They left town with a 0-1 record after the Sugarbeeters turned a second quarter 24-12 deficit into a convincing 40-24 win.

The 'Beeters opened the 2021 season by allowing the Park City Panthers to recover an opening kickoff on-side kick. The 'Beeter defense however held strong and gave the ball back to the offense.

The 'Beeters began their first offensive drive of the day with a little trickery that ended with senior Toby Niederegger scampering his way down the field for 59 yards and an early 6-0 'Beeter lead.

The Panthers would answer in a big way with a pair of touchdowns and two-point conversions to take a 16-6 lead into the second quarter of action.

Chinook would get on the board first in the second quarter. Junior Quarterback Levi Jensen rolled to his right and found senior wideout Drake Berreth for the touchdown. The score brought the 'Beeters within four at 16-12.

Park City again answered to push the lead to 24-12 midway through the quarter. The 'Beeters found some magic late in the half with Jensen finding Niederegger for a 33 yard scoring strike.

Berreth played solid coverage on the ensuing Panther possession, intercepting his first pass of the day, giving the 'Beeters back the ball with six tics left before halftime. Niederegger ran a go route down the sideline, high pointing a perfectly thrown ball from Jensen for another score as the horn sounded. This time the 'Beeters were successful on the conversion attempt and led 26-24 at the break.

The Chinook defense stood tall the second half shutting out the Panthers. Berreth intercepted two more passes and the offense added a pair of touchdowns in the process.

Jensen and Niederegger hooked up for a 60 yard strike to push the 'Beeter lead to ten, 34-24. Jensen then connected with Niederegger on a six yard pitch and catch for the final points of the contest.

Jensen, in his first start at quarterback threw for five touchdowns while Niederegger caught four balls for scores and rushed for one more in the 40-24 'Beeter win.

Sugarbeeter Head Coach Mike Jones liked the way his team responded to some early adversity, "The end of the first half was a big momentum swing for us. We were battling but could not really get together defensively or offensively."

The 'Beeters pulled things together on both sides of the ball to make some magic happen. "We got a big stop on defense and then went and got two quick scores to end the half and take a two point lead. That was a huge confidence builder," said Jones.

The 'Beeter defense addressed the 24 points Park City scored in the first half and the coaching staff made some adjustments, "We have a group that is highly intelligent. That makes halftime adjustments great because we trust them to go out and execute," commented Jones. "In addition to players being quick to adapt the staff is in sync making it happen, "As for the coaches we have a great staff and I think we all work well together and each brings something unique and great to the staff which makes it easy to see the whole field and help see what adjustments need to be made.

Picking up a season opening win over a team as highly rated as the Park City Panthers is huge, " This win was big for us because it was at home on Hoon Field, and our first game for some of our players. We had some kids step up and it really showed the athleticism and resilience of this team," added Jones.

The 'Beeters will now turn their attention to the Shelby Coyotes this Friday. The Coyotes began the season as the No.1 team in the 406 MT Sports Class C 8-player top 5. They dropped their season opener to No.2 38-20. Coach Jones expects the Coyotes to be fired up and expects another hard fought contest. "Shelby is a well coached team with some great athletes on the field. We have to prepare for everything that they are going to bring. They run the ball well, and showed a good passing game last week. We have to make sure that we prepare well and stay hungry and keep grinding throughout the game."

The 'Beeters though showed a little metal as well, "I think that our team showed great poise and comradery to be able to come back in that first half and execute and finish in the second half.

Defensively the 'Beeters were tough and received solid contributions from top to bottom. Senior Drake Berreth was outstanding in coverage. Berreth intercepted three balls in the contest, including one right before half to set up the touchdown that gave the 'Beeters the lead. Berreth also finished with 12 total tackles.

Junior Runningback Tyler Schoen burst through a hole for good yards during first quarter action Saturday.

Junior Tyler Schoen brought down any Panther in his way tallying 18 tackles on the day. Freshman Oliver Standiford totaled nine tackles in his first Varsity contest. Freshman Landen Beck also shined in his first outing with seven total tackles.