The NRHEG Panthers saw their season come to an end Tuesday night against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in the first round of the Section 2AA football tournament.

It was a battle of the defenses, with neither team scoring in the first half. The Bulldogs got on the board in the third quarter and the Panthers could not answer back, falling 8-0.

JWP scored five minutes into the third quarter on a four-yard run by freshman Jack Cahill.

NRHEG dominated in many of the stat categories, including 176 passing yards to JWP’s 26.

The Panthers also forced six turnovers, but were unable to convert any of them into points.

Senior quarterback Blake Ihrke was the lead rusher with 25 yards. Junior Kordell Schlaak was the only other rusher with more than 10 yards with 13. Ihrke was 10/27 with 167 yards through the air.

“An end to the season we didn’t expect,” head coach Mrc Kruger said. “(Zero and eight) is not the way I thought it would be. It was a very even game, each team playing really well. We had the ball three times in scoring position and couldn’t capitalize.”

The Panthers end the season with a record of 3-6 and lose five seniors, including Ihrke, Lonnie Wilson and Masn Ferebr, to graduation in the spring.