The Panthers hopped on the road and picked up an easy 40-7 Week 1 victory at Hays Friday night. 

A strong start for the defense forced the Indians to punt on the first drive, which led to a Da’Saahn Brame touchdown. Senior safety Easton Splane got an interception on Hays’ next drive, leading to another Brame touchdown.

“It’s always good to start the game with a stop, especially in the first game so that was huge, and then to go get that pick — I was super excited,” Splane said. “So it was a great feeling that I could help my team early on.” 

The momentum never really did slow down for the Panthers as they kept rolling down the field and scoring, scoring 27 straight points. 

“I thought the interception was great for our momentum. Right after, I was super hyped and I thought that the people around me reacted good to that energy, and we didn’t mess up much after it,” Splane said. 

The offense’s big struggle was the number of penalties on the offensive line. Holding was a big issue.

“Well, it’s the first game of the season and we are still trying to get everything down, but there’s some areas that we need to work on and we are just going to keep practicing,” junior left tackle Max Robinson said. 

The Panthers play host to Campus in their home opener on Sept. 13.