The “rocky” start that the Panthers went through had more to do with the schedule they rotated into than anything else, taking on a much-improved Towanda team that was debuting a new offensive weapon in QB Riley Vanderpool, going to Canton to face the two-time defending District champs and then visiting the NTL large school champs, Troy.

The Panthers were outscored 120-32 in those first three games, as Towanda won 26-6, Canton won 42-13 and Troy won 52-13. 

In Week 4, North Penn Mansfield made the long trek to Shickshinny worth the trip when they rolled over the host Rangers 35-19 for their first win of the season and of Wright’s young career. 

Senior QB Karson Dominick threw two touchdown passes .. to junior Cooper Shaw and sophomore Luke Kreger .. ran for a score and completed 10-of-18 for 150 yards in the win. Sophomore George Perry had his best game of the season, running for 126 yards on just 10 carries and scoring twice. 

The Panthers then ran into a Muncy team coming off of two lopsided wins over Sayre and Montgomery and .. somehow .. a loss to Wellsboro. They’d tie the game at 13 with seven minutes left in the third quarter but the Indians pulled away for a 40-19 win.

At 1-4 on the season, NPM rebounded once again and earned a last-second, 20-14 win over a much-improved Cowanesque Valley squad in Week 6. 

CV scored 14 unanswered points and tied the game with less than four minutes remaining when Dominick led his Panthers down the field and found senior Cale Wagner alone in the end zone with :29 left to get the win and improve to 2-4.

The Panthers would take a step back in Week 7, taking a bad, 7-6 loss to a pretty poor Athens’ team, then once again rebounded and routed an even poorer team in Sayre, 36-8. Wagner carried the ball 22 times in the win for 200 yards and three touchdowns as the Panthers moved to 3-5 with two games left.

NPM experienced another post-win hangover and fell 37-16 at Wyalusing in Week 9 and sat at 3-6 with their annual rivalry game with Wellsboro remaining. 

The Panthers scored 21 unanswered points against the Hornets to retain the Morton F. Jones Trophy and earn their fourth win of the season .. a one win improvement over their 3-8 2022.

Dominick completed 15-of-21 passes for 133 yards and a pair of touchdowns .. to Wagner and Kreger .. and Wagner finished with 102 yards and a TD on the ground to help the Panthers keep the ‘Morty’ for the second straight year. 

Mansfield earned the No. 7 seed for the 2A playoffs and traveled to Southern Columbia where they’d fall 62-20 to the eventual District champs to bring their season to an end.

The Panthers finished with nearly 300 yards of offense and three second-half scores in the loss as Dominick threw 36 times in the game and completed 13 passes for 186 yards and a TD and Shaw had a rushing touchdown, caught Dominick’s TD pass and threw a touchdown .. to Dominick. 

NPM scored 205 points on the year (18.6/game) and gave up 313 (28.5).

Dominick finished the season with over 1,400 total yards and 18 touchdowns while also serving as the Panthers’ punter (31 yd avg) and kicker. He completed 98 of his 221 passing attempts for 1,293 yards and 16 touchdowns and had 10 picks, ran for a score and gained 70 yards on the ground and caught a 45-yard TD pass from Shaw in the Southern game. 

Wagner led the Panthers in rushing, gaining 676 yards on 139 carries with seven touchdowns. The first year starting tailback also hauled in 26 receptions for 235 yards and three scores and was the Panthers’ kickoff and punt returner. 

Shaw was Dominick’s favorite target as the big tight end had 35 catches for 364 yards and four touchdowns. He also carried the ball 18 times for 75 yards and another score, and completed five passes on the season, including the touchdown to Dominick against Southern Columbia.

Sophomore Luke Kreger was a close second behind Shaw in targets and had 28 catches for 539 yards and seven touchdowns in his varsity debut, while senior Gabe Bellows added 14 catches good for 176 yards and a score. 

Junior George Perry was second behind Wagner in rushing, gaining 209 yards on 39 carries with two touchdowns.

Defensively, Shaw led North Penn Mansfield with 64 tackles and added two picks, two sacks and two fumble recoveries, while junior Luke Sexauer had 57 tackles and three fumble recoveries and senior Gage Kreger and Wagner each had 56 tackles on the year.

Dominick, Shaw and Luke Kreger each had two interceptions for NPM, while Wagner, freshman Keaton Manikowski and junior George Valentine .. who played in just the final two games of the season .. each had a pick. 

A handful of seniors played their final game for the Panthers, including Dominick, Wagner, Bellows, Conner Shuman, Ethan Dick, Gage Kreger and Dante Stiger. 

Dominick finished off a varsity career where the three year starter threw for over 3,700 yards with 38 passing TDs and 44 scores total. 

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