MOORE -- Southmoore had put on aerial shows all season.

Every team the SaberCats have played has gotten a taste of what they can do when they are on their game.

However, Putnam City North came into the District 6A-1 showdown unafraid. The Panthers took the fourth-ranked SaberCats to the limit and stole a 30-28 victory and handed Southmoore (4-1) its first loss of the season at Moore Stadium Friday.

"Overall, top to bottom, we need to work to get better," Southmoore coach Chris Jensen said. "We need to learn from it right now. We played against a team that played with a great deal of heart. We need to come back and correct the mistakes we made and get better for next week."

Trailing by three points, Kendal Thompson led the SaberCats on an 80-yard, 12 play drive. With 48 seconds left, he saw his longtime friend Nyko Symonds streaking down the middle of the field with two defenders around him. He split the double coverage for a 42-yard, apparent game-winning touchdown.

However, the 48 seconds ended up being too much time for an experienced squad like PC North. Quarterback Jace James responded with his own drive down to the 12-yard line. He then hit Dillon Schooley for the real game winner as time expired on the clock.

"I was feeling pretty good," Jensen said. "We had them pinned deep in their territory. A lot of credit to Putnam City North. They made enough plays to win the football game."

Symonds finished with six catches for 245 yards and three scores, but the Cats hurt themselves with turnovers.

"It doesn't feel good at all," Symonds said. "I could kind of feel when we were warming up we didn't have that intensity. No emotion. But that is not an excuse. Who is going to win a game with four turnovers? We killed ourselves all night."

But the Panthers (4-1) had the first turnover of the night when Dre Holmon mishandled a pitch from James. LaBron Brown recovered the loose ball for the Cats early in the first quarter. Southmoore's Andrew Long returned the favor five plays later inside the Panther 5-yard line halting a potential go-ahead score.

Long coughed it up again on the next t drive giving the Panthers the ball in SaberCat territory. It led to a 53-yard field goal by PCN's Kevin Cabello.

Southmoore's high-octane offense was ground to a halt through most of the first half. Except for a couple of big runs, North had completely shut down the Cats' running game.

Symonds injected a lot of energy into the offense when he caught a 62-yard touchdown pass from Thompson. The Symonds-Thompson connection struck again an 84-yard scoring strike on Southmoore's next possession. The SaberCats led 14-3 at halftime.

Southmoore didn't slow down in the second half, but it changed its method of attack. Mason Myers, Kimes Gilbert and J.P. Hendrick opened up lanes for Long to dash through on his way to 110 rushing yards. And Austin Haywood carried three defenders with him into the end zone when he scored on a 5-yard run in the third quarter.

However, the Panthers answered with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Johnson and a Dre Holman 1 yard scoring run. They closed the deficit to 21-17 with 3:53 left in the third.

Thompson was then picked off twice in a span of eight minutes. He had only two coming into the game.

The second interception took place in the PCN end zone. The Panther defender faked like he was going to just down it, but he caught the SaberCats off guard and returned it the Southmoore 41-yard line.

Four plays later Covin Conrady came down with 27-yard touchdown catch over Symonds to put North up 24-21 with 4:39 left.

"We can't take anyone lightly," Symonds said. "We have a target on our backs. Everyone is coming for us. We are just going to have to learn that. Everytime we come out here to play, they are going to be gunning. So we have to be ready."

Michael Kinney 366-3537 mkinney@normantranscript.com