Prairie City/Burnt River running back Tucker Wright runs past Tiger defenders during his team’s matchup with Dayville/Monument/Long Creek on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023.

MONUMENT — The Prairie City/Burnt River football team emerged from an early season showdown with Monument/Dayville/Long Creek with their undefeated record intact — overwhelming the Tigers on their way to a dominant 68-7 league victory at Monument High School on Thursday, Sept. 14.

A pick-six in the final two minutes of the first quarter saw the Panthers head into the second quarter of play with a dominant 20-0 advantage. But the Panthers were just getting started.

A pair of 40-plus-yard touchdown runs, two interceptions returned for touchdowns and a 16-yard touchdown pass late in the first half had the Panthers up 47-0 headed into intermission.

The Dayville/Monument/Long Creek squad kept battling, refusing to end the game as they’d done in the past despite the massive deficit they were facing. The Panthers simply kept scoring.

Prairie City/Burnt River added one score in the third quarter, a 43-yard touchdown scamper by Maison Teel, to take a 53-0 lead after three quarters of play. Tucker Wright would add another score with just over 7:00 left in the game. His 47-yard run along with a converted two-point try increased the Panther lead to 61-0.

Prairie City/Burnt River’s Cayden Howard would score the final Panther touchdown of the game, a 32-yard touchdown run that extended the Panther advantage to 68-0 after the two-point conversion.

The Tigers still wouldn’t quit, however, and added their lone score in the waning moments of the game. Tiger quarterback Josh Thomas connected with Tyler Thompson for an 80-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute left.

That score held until the end of the game, with the Panthers coming away with a convincing 68-7 league road win.

Tiger coach Chris Carlin said the last touchdown at the end of the game was important for his team moving forward. “I told them at halftime, we can’t quit. They’re not going to quit, Prairie City is never going to quit — they’re never just going to roll over,” he said.

“For them to go out and hang that seven at the end to make it so they didn’t shut us out is a win for us in some areas.”

Tyler Thompson paced the Panthers on offense with 125 receiving yards and a touchdown. Preston Fretwell added 50 yards on the ground.

Josh Thomas finished the day with 133 passing yards and a touchdown.

The loss drops the Tigers to 2-1 on the season, while the win keeps the Panthers perfect at 3-0.

The Tigers will be in action next on Friday, Sept. 22, when they head to South Wasco County. That game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. kickoff.

The Panthers will head to Echo on Friday, Sept. 22, looking to stay unbeaten. That game will start at 7 p.m.