MITCHELL – The Prairie City football team learned how much can change in 24 minutes last week.

The Panthers fell 34-20 to Mitchell/Spray Saturday. Prairie City dominated the first half of the game and led 20-6 going into halftime. They continued to control the game in the third quarter and were able to put together a couple defensive stops.

However, two quick injuries early in the third quarter caused problems for the team. Colton Schulze left the game with an injury to his left shoulder and had to go to the hospital. Justin Gillihan injured his neck a few plays later. Schulze and Gillihan are starters on both sides of the ball.

“It all started changing after the injuries,” Prairie City coach Scott Hoberg said. “We lost two guys who start four positions between offense and defense for us.”

Prairie City was never able to regain its momentum following the injuries and didn’t score another touchdown in the game. The Panthers had 14 first downs in the first half compared with one for the Loggers. Prairie City gave Mitchell/ Spray another eight first downs in the second half.

Mitchell/Spray put the ball in the end zone four times in the second half.

“It was kind of a tale of two halves,” Hoberg said. “We only gave up one touchdown in the first half and it was on a 50-yard pass to an uncovered guy, and almost scored right before halftime to make it 28-6. Then in the second half we just looked defeated.”

Hoberg said the Panthers’ younger players struggled after the injuries.

“You could see it on the faces of the younger kids we were confident going into the quarter and everyone lost that confidence,” Hoberg said. “The seniors kept trying to rally everyone and get them going. The kids have had to learn a lot of hard lessons this season. I guess this is just one more lesson. They had to learn that they are capable of overcoming problems. I figured they might get another touchdown or so, but we should have held onto the game.”

Prairie City’s yardage backs up Hoberg’s view. The Panthers put up 265 total yards in the game, compared to Mitchell/Spray’s 220. The Panthers nearly tripled the Loggers 77 yards of rushing with 200 of their own.

“I’m proud of the way the guys played this week,” Hoberg said. “They pushed hard.”

Brandon Crisler led Prairie City’s offensive attack with 115 yards rushing and Schulze added 60 yards in the first half before his injury.

Schulze may miss this week’s game against Huntington, but Gillihan is expected to return to the field this week. Prairie City will play Huntington at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19.