PLYMOUTH — Washington County High School's football team opened the season with plenty of fire against Manteo on Monday night, Aug. 24, 2026, but couldn't hold off the Redskins in a 36-22 loss at home.

The Panthers came out swinging. Just under three minutes into the first quarter, they broke off a deep run for a touchdown, and the two-point conversion made it 8-0. Manteo answered almost immediately with a long pass-and-march drive that cut the lead to 8-6.

The Redskins took control in the second quarter. A long run set them up at the 10-yard line, and they punched it in for a touchdown near the one-minute mark, adding the conversion to go up 14-8. Less than a minute later, with 19 seconds left in the half, Manteo scored again to make it 20-8 at the break.

Manteo kept the pressure on out of halftime, scoring another touchdown and two-point conversion around the 5:40 mark of the third quarter to push the lead to 28-8. But the Panthers weren't finished. A long pass reeled in by Dre Kel Betts set up a Washington County touchdown later in the third, trimming the gap to 28-14.

Manteo answered with a touchdown and conversion early in the fourth quarter to make it 36-14, but the Panthers refused to fold. Jeremiah Mann caught an epic pass from Kiymani Jones and returned it deep downfield, eventually scoring the game's final touchdown, followed by a conversion to close out the contest at 36-22.

Panthers coach Ben James said Manteo's discipline made the difference.

"Like I said, Manteo’s a tough team, a very disciplined team. They don't make many mistakes, and they capitalized on ours," James said. "But we'll come back Friday better. We've got three days of practice to fix some things, get some things right. I am proud of the guys — they didn't quit. They could have rolled over, but they fought to the end. Like I told them: not a loss, but a lesson."

Betts was one of the night's standout performers, but he wasn't alone, according to James.

"Number 62 played good too. Keonja Sanders on the defensive side — yeah, he played really well," James said. "And of course Ty Quez Selby, before he got hurt. He was playing really well before he had to leave, and I'll find out more on what's going on with him, see if he'll be available Friday."

James singled out special teams as the night's biggest surprise.

"The strongest unit tonight was special teams. Kickoff team played extremely well, kickoff return played extremely well, and I am proud of that," he said. "Usually that's a weakness for us, so that gives me a lot of positives — makes me feel good going forward. Special teams is going to be one of our strengths."

Looking at the bigger picture, James pointed to the size difference between the two teams.

"They were a lot bigger than us, but the boys were up for the challenge, and I'm just proud of them — fighting all the way to the end," James said.

He also pointed to a handful of missed chances that could have changed the outcome.

"We had a couple missed opportunities — a couple fumbles on the ground that we could've gotten, that maybe could have changed the game," James said. "We got downhill a couple times in the red zone with a chance to score and just couldn't finish it. We'll clean it up. Blocking scheme wasn't right tonight — it was inconsistent on both sides of the ball, pass blocking and run blocking. We'll work on some of that tomorrow, too."

Despite the loss, James said he's confident heading into Friday's matchup with Rocky Mount Prep.

"No one likes to lose, but hey, that's just part of sports," James said. "We'll go pretty light tomorrow, work on some things, clean up some things. I'll be pretty confident going into Friday's game."

The Panthers host Rocky Mount Prep this Friday. Stats and highlights from Monday's game, along with a preview of the Rocky Mount matchup, will follow in a future story.