One week after being the hammer, a Moscrop Panthers were the nail in a 35-6 exhibition loss to Abby Christian at Burnaby Lake West on Friday afternoon.
One week after a 38-0 win over the Isfeld Ice, the Panthers were undone by Abby Christian's explosive Dallas Yassinsky, who had two touchdowns, including a 55yard punt return for a score.
Moscrop salvaged some pride with a late touchdown, a one-yard pass from Jesse Johnston to Mohammed Indakem.
But the game was all Abbotsford, as they scored early and often offensively and hammered Johnston all game long defensively.
"They're a tough team, a good, strong AA team," said Panthers head coach Craig Bymoen. "I wanted to schedule some tough exhibitions for our guys so that they could play better opponents and hopefully get better."
The Tier II Panthers did show some nimble execution, while trailing 23-0, on a second quarter drive where Johnston was able to connect with Marcus Perrin and Indakem on 20-yard receptions and a 10-yard catch by Ahmad Al Ashkar, but the Panthers' drive stalled on fourth down and Abby Christian capitalized by scoring two more touchdowns to salt the game away.
"We're a young team," said Bymoen. "I think we only have seven guys who played football last year, so that means we're just trying to get better and improve every week."
Indakem was one example of a player who got better as the game went on. After fumbling a kickoff and having Abby Christian convert that turnover into their third touchdown of the game, Indakem showed a lot more urgency on the next Panthers possessions and was rewarded with a touchdown for his efforts.
"Our guys are making massive strides and I keep telling them that those strides only come with experience," said Bymoen.
The experience of getting hurt couldn't have been comforting for Johnston, who was repeatedly hit while in the pocket. But he kept on getting up and kept firing passes.
"Jesse, he was tough today," said Bymoen. "We've asked our kids to step up and keep fighting, and Jesse did that today."
In junior varsity action, the Panthers lost 34-0 to Hugh Boyd of Richmond on Wednesday.
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