On Friday, September 22nd, the Trojans faced off against the 4-1 Paradise Honors Panthers. The Trojans were hyped to play another game and were ready to put up a fight against a tough team. Many of the players were looking forward to having a home game and having the Trojan fans cheer them on. 

The first quarter of the game started off quickly with a touchdown for the Trojans scored by senior quarterback Gunnar Link. After the touchdown, senior kicker Wilson Kaehr made a field goal, making the score 7-0. Nearing the end of the first quarter, the Panthers scored a touchdown and rushed for a 2-point conversion, giving them the lead on the Trojans 7-8.  

Many great passes from Link to senior wide receiver Caleb Lewis were made in the beginning of the second quarter. Link threw a 40-yard pass to Lewis, putting them in a great position to score a touchdown in the next couple of plays. Lewis scored for the Trojans, but sadly they were unable to score a 2-point conversion, giving Valley a 13-8 lead. In the middle of the second quarter the Panthers scored a touchdown, but luckily senior defensive back Will Bastian blocked their extra point attempt. The Panthers scored two more touchdowns, successfully completing on of their 2-point conversion attempts at the end of the second quarter, giving them the lead, 22-13, going into the half.  

Link stated, "We played a pretty good game until halftime and after halftime we came out a little slow, which made it harder to pick it back up." 

More great plays were made by the Panthers at the beginning of the third quarter, making the game 13-28 in favor of Paradise Valley. Despite the score, the Trojans continued to fight hard, with Link leading a a 75-yard touchdown drive and Kaehr adding the extra point, bringing the score to 20-28. Kaehr shared, "kicking is a big mental sport, you have to stay strong and in the moment, and focus on doing your best." The Trojans scored again with a 70-yard pass from Link to sophomore wide receiver Asher Hanzal, but failed on the two-point conversion, leaving them trailing the Panthers 26-28. The Panthers scored the last touchdown in the third quarter, ending it at 26-36.  

The fourth quarter began with a 16-yard pass from Link to Hanzal, scoring a touchdown along with an extra point, tightening the game to 33-36. At this point the game could have gone either way and there was a lot of positive energy and cheering coming from the Trojan stands. Unfortunately, for the Trojans, this was their final touchdown of the game. Nearing the end of the fourth quarter the Panthers were able to score two more touchdowns, resulting in a final score of 33-52 for the Panthers. 

The Trojans had put in a lot of hard work in practice leading up to the game, hoping to play their best and win against a top 3A opponent in their second home game. Unfortunately, they came out short in the end. The Trojans were disappointed with their loss and know they made several avoidable mistakes to give the Panthers win. Senior AJ Zvada reflected with hope, "if we play them again later this season I have a feeling the score will be different and will be in our favor instead."  

The Trojans are still determined to play their best at the next game and show that this loss did not affect them.