Still searching for a win in the newly-renovated Kay Fackrell Stadium, the Evanston High School football team came up short Friday against visiting Powell, falling to their 3A West rivals, 35-20.
The loss drops the Red Devils to 1-6 on the season (0-3 in the 3A West), and with top-ranked Cody on tap this Friday and a resurgent Green River squad set for next week, Evanston will have their work cut out for them if they hope to still qualify for the postseason.

“We had some adversity [against Powell] early, and we did not respond well to it,” said EHS head coach Jim Burton. “We deferred to the second half, we came out and made them punt, so the defense did their job. Then right off the bat, we botch a snap, and the rails came off. To their credit, the kids fought hard, and tried to fight back – they just didn’t have enough gas in the tank to bring it all the way back. But the kids played hard, and fought.”
Powell built a 21-0 first-half lead, with their first two scores the result of Red Devil turnovers. Powell quarterback Jhett Schwahn hit Evan Whitlock for a 9-yard touchdown pass for the first score of the contest; Schwahn scored on a quarterback keeper a short time later to give the Panthers a 14-0 first quarter lead.
As the Red Devils struggled to get things going offensively, Powell increased their lead to 21-0 in the second quarter, when Keona Wisniewski found his way into the end zone from a yard out to make it 21-0 with 7:09 to play.
Evanston engineered a long drive to begin the second half, marching the ball all the way down to the Panthers’ 10-yard line. Facing a 4th-and-1 on the 10, the Red Devils turned it over on downs, seemingly ending the threat. But a Powell fumble deep in their own territory gave Evanston new life, resulting in a 1-yard TD run by Brady Roberts, the first for the