Pioneer lost a lot to graduation from last year’s team that played in the Class 1A state championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium, but one of their best players in the trenches has returned for his senior year.
Mikaden Tolosa shined in the season opener at Lewis Cass, helping the Panthers win in their fourth straight Clash of Cass County with a 20-15 comeback victory.
Tolosa, a 5-foot-8, 206-pound senior, brings a unique skillset to the football field for the Panthers with his combination of size, strength, athleticism and tenacity.
“We lost a lot of two-way players last year and he’s one of those veterans guys that’s been a staple of our O-line and D-line the last couple years, an all-state player we’re expecting big things from him this year,” Pioneer coach Adam Berry said. “He really showed what he could do this past Friday night. He was our defensive player of the game. He had that huge sack to essentially seal the game and just coming from that backside making plays. And not only defensively, but just being that staple on the offensive line and just having that grit.”
Tolosa was credited with 10 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss and a 15-yard sack in the win over Cass.
The Panthers fell into a 15-0 hole before outscoring the Kings 25-0 over the final 25 minutes.
“I feel like we weren’t locked in the first half, we just didn’t play well,” Tolosa said. “And then we held them to one first down and seven rushing yards in the second half.”
Pioneer high schoolers have been in eLearning over the last two-plus weeks after the historic flooding that first hit on Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Tolosa said the unusual schedule has likely affected the team.
“Whenever we don’t have school, I feel like we play worse than we usually do,” he said. “We don’t play as well. We figured out last year whenever we don’t have school, we play bad.”
The good news is that Pioneer announced a target return date of Tuesday, Sept. 8, so the Panthers have just two more games where their schedules could be out of sync.
Last Friday the Panthers looked down and out after they fell into a 15-0 hole against the Kings.
“I made myself throw up because I drank so much water,” said Tolosa, who added he and the team seemed to find a second wind afterwards.
The team also made some adjustments, he said.
“I started slanting flatter,” he said. “I was going up field a little bit. I slanted flatter and I got more tackles. And our whole defense just did better, a lot better.”
The Panthers lost some players like Micah Rans, Noah Van Meter and Liam Rouch to graduation. But they have some guys who are ready to step up this year.
Tolosa said he’s particularly been impressed by freshman quarterback Colton Popejoy, sophomore tight ends Chase Van Meter and Adric Lee and senior linebacker Mason Shaver.
“Our defensive line is pretty much the same from last year,” Tolosa added.
He added the Kings were a strong Week 1 opponent to go up against.
“They’re better than they were last year,” he said.
What made the Panthers’ comeback even more impressive as arguably their best player, senior fullback/safety Shiloh Rine, was sidelined by a hip injury late in the first quarter.
Tolosa expects Rine to return soon as he was able to run without pain at practice this week after being unable to do so at Monday’s practice.
The Panthers have a chance to avenge on of their two losses from last year’s 13-2 season when they travel to Knox tonight. The Redskins graduated last year’s Mr. Football Myles McLaughlin, who is now a running back at Murray State.
“I feel like that we can beat them this year if we just play well,” Tolosa said.
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