HIGHLAND, IN — The Griffith Panthers will take on the Highland Trojans in their first regular season game on Friday, August 22nd at 7 p.m. in Highland, Indiana.
The time is now. The lights are bright. The field is set. And the Griffith Panthers are back and ready for the 2025 football season.
Coming off with momentum from last year’s 56-0 season-opener at the Griffith High School Boneyard, the Panthers will be hitting the road for their first game at Highland High School, a longtime rival.
This will be the fifth season in a row that the Panthers and Trojans face off in the season opener. In that time, Griffith has a record of 3-1 against Highland, with their only loss coming in 2023.
There are many ways that the team has changed since that season. Senior Ventris Tetter was on the team in 2023, and is ready to take them on for what will be the last time for him.
“Basically, the team’s demeanor as a whole has changed…we know who we are as a team, and we’re going to stay within ourselves to win and not get too full of ourselves.” Tetter said that the mentality of the team in 2023 was a major cause of why the team’s record was only 3-7.
Leadership was also a problem. In 2023, the team lacked the leadership needed to succeed because they did not have a single senior on the roster. Junior Jacob Hemphill believes that is not the case anymore. “We have a lot of guys who have stepped up, and we honestly didn’t expect it. We had a lot of leadership last year, and we might have more this year.” The first-year cornerback believes that the team will be more successful this year due to the rising leaders.
It’s not just about what the team thinks about the upcoming season, though. Coach Phil Mason had many good things to say about his team and their progress thus far. “We feel ready. We worked hard throughout the whole offseason. The offseason really started about 2 weeks after we lost to Knox in the 2nd round of sectionals [on November 11th].”
Mason highlighted some important aspects from the offseason practices. “We worked a lot on strength, and really our physicality on both sides, especially with the summer scrimmages. They helped a ton with that.”
All in all, the Griffith Panthers are geared up for this season, but time will tell who will come out on top in this high-stakes rivalry game. Tune in tonight, in person or online: Tip-off at 7.
