Years of Operation: 1998 - 2004

Overall Record:  12-48

First Game: May 23, 1998 vs Oregon Thunderbolts

First Win: June 20, 1998 @ Eastside Chiefs

Final Game: Aug 28, 2004 @ Willamette Raiders

League Affiliation:  

Independent (1998)

Northwest Football League (1999 - 2004)

Team Headquarters: Salem, OR/Portland, OR

Owner: John Lewis

General Manager: John Lewis

Coaches: Mike Eaton, Rodrigo Garcia

Home Field(s): Roosevelt HS

Titles Won: 

None

1998 Schedule/Results (1-2):

Honors

Ty Williams, 2002 NWFL Offensive MVP

All-League

Ty Williams, RB (2002 - 1st)

Cliff Green, CB (2002 - 2nd, 2001 - 1st) KR (2001 - HM)

Greg Damminga, C (2002 - 3rd)

Justen Wochnick, OT (2002 - 2nd)

Jason Loitz, OT (2002 - HM)

Kalani Mantanza, RB (2001 - HM)

Greg Gadbois, DE (2001 - 3rd)

Brandon Baxter, MLB (2001 - 3rd)

Brian Ford, S (2001 - HM)

Rob Johnson, CB (2001 - HM

Steve Gibson, P (2001 - HM)

Al Bangle, LB (2000 - HM)

Rocco Mantza, FB (2000 - HM)

All-America

Ty Williams, NFE 2002 Honorable Mention

Story of the Panthers:

As an independent team in 1998 based out of Salem, the Panthers organization played only 3 games defeating the last-place team of the NWFL by 3 points in a 1-2 effort..

1999 was one of the worst offensive performances in Northwest history.  Oregon avoiding being shut out in all 9 games they played by scoring 6 points in their season opener.  They wouldn't score another point.  The brightest point of the season was the forfeit victory over the Eastside Chiefs who folded up early in the year.

The losing continued in 2000 with an 0-10 campaign but scoring became a little more commonplace.  Arguably the MVP of the season was the Panthers place-kicker who kept the shutouts at bay in at least 2 games.

2001 opened with a disappointing loss to the Cavaliers but led to the biggest surprise of the NWFL season; a Panther 2-game winning streak.  The Panthers found some playmakers and battled to four victories and came close to the King County Jaguars in a 4-point loss.  With five teams in the Portland/Vancouver area, the Panthers may have found a shot at playing even with the rest of the NWFL.

Even is what the Panthers did in 2002 playing to a 5-5 record starting an impressive 3-0 campaign that showed promise of an explosive offense with the addition of eventual NWFL Offensive MVP Ty Williams at running back who came over from the Columbia Cougars along with a number of other former Cougars.

After an impressive showing by Panther standards, 2003 should have been the next step to a playoff run, but 2004 looked more like 2000 as the team was a non-factor in any game it played losing all 9 by double digits.  Many of those players who had come over after the collapse of the Cougars opted to play for other Portland-area teams.

2004 would be the Panthers final season and they would be part of NWFL history showing the discrepancy between the top teams and bottom teams.  Sitting at 0-2 on the season, the Panthers would win their first game since July of 2002 and two weeks later, won again, defeating the Cavaliers for the second time in three years.  But sandwiched between those victories was a 99-0 beat down by eventual NWFL champion Eastside and a few weeks later West Sound would pummel the Panthers 64-0.

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