Resilient Panthers Ready To Fight For Success: Clarksville 2025 Season Preview
by Janice Penix
In 2024, the Clarksville Panthers celebrated their first high school football victory in three years as they toppled the Dover Pirates 19-14, ending a 22-game losing streak.
Although they didn’t win another game all season, this year, Head Coach Mitchell Powers hopes his team can build on the progress it has made over the last 12 months.
“Getting our first win in awhile is definitely something to build on,” Powers said. “It got the monkey off our back, so to speak, and it was good for confidence for those guys. I think it carried them through the rest of the season.”
Powers believes the Panthers made significant improvements as a team and individually that will translate into continued success on the field.
“Even before that win, we were starting to see them have some confidence,” he said. “We got up on Ozark before halftime, then we just didn’t capitalize on that in the second half. But they could see that, and saw they needed to take care of some of the glitches in the first two games. It reminded them they needed to finish, and we did that in Dover.”
In his second year as head coach, Powers is implementing his own coaching style and philosophy into a system that works for Clarksville, despite limited numbers on the sidelines.
“Our guys bought into our standards,” he said. “They showed up, worked hard, and did what we asked. Yeah, you want to win, but in the grand scheme of things that’s what you want to see from your team.”
Players
Clarksville graduated a large group of seniors in 2024 and will have to find replacements in several key positions.
“We lost multiple seniors on both sides of the ball that were big pieces for us, guys who set the standard for the culture we’re building,” Powers said. “So losing several of them, we’ve got to have guys that replace them, that will build on what they started, who can run the new offense and defense we’ve put in place.
“We have a smaller group of seniors, eight maybe nine right now. And we have a good group of younger guys, a big group of sophomores and juniors who have stepped up this spring, who are filling those roles.”
Among the team’s senior leadership are Denver Pickartz, Cole Frizzell and Ben Holland.
Pickartz was an all-conference linebacker who led the team in tackles his junior season with 98, and who also plays running back.
At 6-2 and 330 pounds, Frizzell anchors the offensive line and led the team in pancake blocks last year. He also leads the defensive linemen.
Holland is a 4.0 student who plays on both offensive and defensive lines.
“Denver, Cole and Ben are the three biggest leaders in this senior group,” Powers said. “They carry a lot of the load with what we do on the field. They were key pieces for us already and will be even more so this year – by leaving a legacy in this program, in building it into what we want it to be.”
The Panthers will also have to find a replacement for all-state quarterback Angel Alvarez and their top receiver from last season, Cyprus Tuck.
Junior Braxton Raburn has been taking snaps behind center throughout the spring and summer, and Powers said he is pleased with Raburn’s production.
“Losing your quarterback is the number one question, how to replace him,” Powers said…The full story appears in the Aug. 27 edition of The Graphic, found online and in businesses throughout Johnson and Franklin counties.
SENIORS on the Clarksville Panthers football team in 2025 include (front row, from left) Harlee Gasparro, Spencer Christian-Liles, Ethan Rocole, Rita Mitchell, manager; (back row) Kale Porter, Ben Holland, Denver Pickartz, Cole Frizzell and Slade Bean.
–Graphic photo by Janice Penix
JUNIORS on the Clarksville Panthers football team in 2025 include (front row, from left) Abbe Nichols, manager; James Cook, Braxton Raburn, Elijah Ramirez, Say Htoo, Austin Burris, Kenzie Hazelwood, manager; (back row) Mattisyn Pitts, manager; Jesus Gonzalez, Rogelio Morales, Messiah Patterson, Rylan Melson, and Julio Banuelos. Not pictured is Trevor Dailey.
–Graphic photo by Janice Penix
SOPHOMORES on the Clarksville Panthers football team in 2025 include (front row, from left) managers Savannah Asbury, Rhiana Lemons, Isabela Perez and Allie Estep; (second row) Aiden Plugge, Ayden Frias, Misael Escamilla, Isaac Cardoza, Alex Sanchez; (third row) Aiden Hamilton, Brady Casey, Brendan Penix, Brian Kremers, Jose Jimenez, Ty Kimbrough, TaPaluar Htoo; (back row) Denny Fetters, Jayden Hasty, Zack Dolson and Franciso Gonzalez.
–Graphic photo by Janice Penix
