Photo taken by Titus Wilkinson.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- The Panthers faced off against one of their biggest rivals the San Diego Strike Force in round one of the playoffs on Sunday evening.

During the regular season, the Panthers went 3-1 against the Strike Force. They actually played San Diego in their last regular season game. The Panthers won that game 30-20.

The first quarter of this game felt like two heavy weights exchanging blows.

The first blow in this one was delivered by Daquan Neal who cut through the defense and ran for 31 yards getting the Panthers on the board.

On the kickoff return San Diego would end up benefitting from fan interference which set them up deep in Panthers territory. With the extra help the Strike Force only needed one play to score as Jordan Kress made the catch tying the game back up at seven.

The Panthers didn’t even need a play to respond. On the kickoff, Jazer Peterson returned it for a 44 yard touchdown putting them back on top.

The following drive for San Diego was helped along by a Panthers holding penalty. That play was then followed up by a touchdown pass from Nate Davis to Ar Jackson III making it a 14-14 score.

Bay Area would have to fight for points a little more on their next drive. Shane Simpson helped lead the way with 32 rushing yards. Neal though ended up being the beneficiary as he finished the drive with a touchdown run his second of the first quarter.

The first quarter ended with the first drive that did not result in points as San Diego was forced to punt the ball back to the Panthers.

After a solid first quarter the Panthers followed it up with a weak opening to the second as Neal threw an interception. The Strike Force took that pick for a lengthy drive and then capped it off with a touchdown by Rudy Johnson.

Right before the second half concluded though Neal completed the hat trick with his third rushing touchdown of the game. San Diego with less than a minute left were able to get a field goal in response making it a 28-24 game at the end of the half.

San Diego started out with the ball in the second half and after a long drive scored as Ar Jackson III on a touchdown reception gave San Diego their first lead of the game.

With a chance to respond the Panthers looked to be poised to tie the game right back up. But, after a lengthy drive the gold-and-black didn’t put up anything on the board as they missed a 42 yard field goal try.

Now San Diego had a huge opportunity to take a two possession lead and they did not squander it. After a couple of failed completions Davis rattled off two great throws with the second one hitting Jackon III for another touchdown. On the bright-side for the Bay Area the extra point was blocked keeping the score at 36-28 which stayed that way into the fourth quarter.

The Panthers started with possession in the fourth and desperately needed to respond to get the crowd back into it. Things began to look bleak as the Panthers were down to their final down. Neal though was able to connect with Peterson for 22 yards bringing it back to a one possession game. The Panthers would go for two after the touchdown but failed to convert.

Bay Area needed a big defensive stop but were unable to do so as this time Davis found Xavier Amey extending their lead to 42-34. Once again though the San Diego went without the extra point as this time the kick was missed.

The Panthers stayed in the fight and Neal once again used his legs to run for 22 yards and a touchdown making it close once again. Bay Area did go for the two after the touchdown but did not convert.

San Diego though was still not slowing down on offense and Jackson III one upped Neal with his fourth touchdown catch of the game. The extra point was also good putting Strike Force up 49-40.

Now down to their last chance the Panthers made little progress down field and eventually gave the ball back to San Diego effectively ending the game.

The loss ends the Panthers hopes of going back-to-back as champions. The playoff win though was the first in Strike Force’s history.

With the Panthers season now over they’ll have to look ahead to 2025 for their shot at redemption next season.