PASS DEFENSE … Delta defensive end Wyatt Flickinger leaps to knock down the pass of the Patriot quarterback.
PHOTOS BY RACHEL NAGEL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
OPEN FIELD MOVE … Vincent Martinez looks to make a move to get by the Patrick Henry tackler.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
HAMLER (October 3, 2025) – The Patrick Henry Patriots defeated the Delta Panthers on the gridiron in a homecoming battle Friday night in Hamler.
Both teams struggled early, with the Patriots, then the Panthers going three and out to start the first quarter. When the Patriots started their second drive, a lateral pass to senior Jaidan Rutter gained eight yards before senior Cal Schroeder and junior Kiefer Holloway took over.
An eight-yard pass to Holloway was followed by a pair of Schroeder runs that only netted three yards before another pass to Holloway, this one for 27 yards all the way to the one-yard line.
Schroeder took a direct snap on the next play, carrying it in for Patrick Henry’s first touchdown. The point after attempt by freshman Aiden Gerken was unsuccessful, leaving the score at 6-0.
A penalty for illegal substitution against the Patriots on the first play after they kicked to the Panthers helped spur their progress, but a trio of runs by sophomore Marcus Nagel still left them at fourth and inches.
A successful quarterback sneak for a yard brought Nagel back out, taking a pitch and a pass on two of the next three plays for just one total yard, and Delta was forced to kick it away.
After senior Patriot Grant Schwab returned the ball 13 yards and an incomplete pass to Schroeder, senior Jaidan Rutter carried it five yards past midfield for a big first down.
Schroeder and Rutter went on to carry for another first down before a false start tripped up the Patriots, and they couldn’t recover, turning it over to Delta on downs after a failed fourth-and-11 as the second quarter began.
The Panthers wasted no time capitalizing on the opportunity, with junior Vincent Martinez picking up 21 yards on a run and Nagel and senior Alex York earning another first down and moving the ball to the Patrick Henry 30-yard line on a run and pass, respectively.
Martinez made a massive leap, laying fully out in the air to catch a pass on the next play, taking it to the one-yard line, resulting in touchdown two plays later by Nagel. A successful kick by York put Delta up 7-6.
Patrick Henry picked up the pace on their next drive, with a 28-yard return by junior Reed Jackson, followed up by a 15-yard pass to Schwab, and then a 13-yard pass to Holloway, making up for a loss from a false start penalty.
A trio of runs, each by Schroeder and Rutter, brought them to the three-yard line, where Rutter did the honors, carrying it in. A two-point conversion pass to senior Brian Scherdt was successful, putting the Patriots up 14-7.
Delta regained its own momentum largely through the work of Nagel and York, but they were unable to make it to the goal line, settling for a field goal to put the score at 14-10 with 42 seconds left on the clock.
Patrick Henry used five plays and all three of their timeouts to try to extend their lead but couldn’t get within scoring distance before the end of the half.
The Panthers’ running game heated up considerably in the second half, as they chewed up almost 10 minutes of the clock and ran 15 plays on their next drive, slowly inching from the 37 to the nine-yard line with heavy lifting done by Nagel, who carried the ball 34 yards across nine of the plays.
Martinez then took a pitch to close the final yards and scored the touchdown that would put Delta back in the lead. Another successful York kick put the Panthers up 17-14.
Beginning with a 14-yard pass to Holloway, the Patriots began marching down the field, but after two first downs and crossing into the fourth quarter, they ran into trouble.
Two false start penalties and a near sack brought up fourth and 19, and a failed pass attempt there saw the ball turn over on downs at the Delta 38-yard line.
Delta’s struggles eclipsed those of Patrick Henry when, after three plays that only moved them four yards, the ball was snapped over York’s head as he sought to punt it away.
He recovered the ball at the 20 and narrowly escaped being tackled before kicking while on the run. The ball crossed out of bounds at the Delta 40.
Seeing their opportunity, the Patriots got moving. In three plays, they made it to the 26, before what looked like a huge setback when junior quarterback Tristen Rosebrook was sacked hard by a trio of Panthers led by senior Wyatt Flickinger.
An incomplete pass was followed up with an 18-yard pass to Holloway, then a four-yard run by Rutter on fourth and one.
Schroeder carried it another nine yards over two plays before Schwab brought it home to put the Patriots up, with the help of a successful Gerken point after 21-17 with just over three minutes left in the game.
The Panthers struggled under the pressure, with sophomore quarterback Emric Friess unable to connect on four straight pass attempts, turning the ball over on downs with now just over two minutes left.
The Patrick Henry team worked mainly to burn time off the clock, going three and out and burning up Delta’s last time out, leaving them only 31 seconds to work with.
A pair of solid pass attempts went through the hands of their intended receivers, and a sack by senior Mitch Prigge left the clock running.