But the surprising test offered by the Golden Hawks, a side that went 1-17-2 last season, was something the Catamounts expect will pay off as the season plays out.

“I told the team, thank you for showing me some character and some heart,” said Schuler, the Panther Creek coach. “They have built confidence in me and I think they have built confidence in each other through their reaction to tonight.

“They showed when the chips are down, they’re going to fight. They’re going to put it together and they’re going to work for each other.”

The Catamounts gave up two goals early in the second half to fall behind 2-1, but then scored four straight — two by Lester Nare and two by Gabe Latigue — to put away the feisty Golden Hawks.

“At first, to see them come through and score two goals like that got our heads down a little bit,” Latigue said. “But I think the intensity picked up. Everyone realized we had work to do, and we finished.”

Panther Creek entered the match with heavy legs, having played Leesville Road to a grueling 2-2 draw the night before.

The Catamounts controlled the entire first half and went up 1-0 in the 15th minute. Nare ripped a shot from 25 yards that deflected off a Holly Springs defender and into the middle of the penalty area. Forward Nate Latigue raced into open space and buried the chance.

Panther Creek had several more chances throughout the half but was unable to convert another one, which was just fine by Holly Springs coach Doug Greenberg.

“Sometimes you’ve got feel like your fortunate to be in that situation,” Greenberg said of facing a one-goal deficit despite defending for almost the entire first half. “We started off the second half appreciating being down only one. We couldn’t have gotten any less in the effort category. It’s a very good, fast team they were up against.”

That effort paid off early in the second half, when the Golden Hawks scored two goals in the 43rd minute.

First, forward Joshua James picked up a misplayed ball at the back and dumped it into the open net. Less than a minute later, another turnover at the back led to Nick Hohns’ clever finish.

The shots were Holly Springs’ first two of the game.

“It was a good test for us, a test of character, to see if we could take the heat,” Nare said. “I think we responded well. Everyone gave their all tonight.”

Panther Creek evened the game in the 57th minute. On a free kick from 18 yards, Gabe Latigue hit a perfect ball over the four-man wall, and it slammed into the far side netting. Four minutes later, Latigue did it again. He ripped a shot from 18 yards that took a deflection, arced into the sky and dipped into the goal.

Three minutes later, Nare struck for the first time. On a free kick, defender Michael Zerman drilled a long ball into the box. Nare beat his man to it and he headed it home for a 4-2 advantage.

“I love being in the air,” Nare said. “I wanted it so bad. I wanted to get that goal. It was a perfect opportunity to head it in.”

In the 70th minute, Nare and Latigue hooked up for the Catamounts’ final tally. Latigue played Nare down the right side, and Nare gashed his way through the Holly Springs defense before hammering a blistering shot into the far corner for a 5-2 lead.

Not to be outdone, Holly Springs got one more back. In the 78th minute, James made the Catamounts pay for another lapse at the back. The ball squirted free near the penalty spot, and James knocked it in.

Last season, it took Golden Hawks nine games to score two goals and 10 to score three. They equaled the former in the space of 30 seconds early in the second half and matched the latter by the end of the game, which was their second of 2008.

For Panther Creek, the come-from-behind win over Holly Springs was the latest step in building off what it did a year ago. After clinching the Tri-Eight’s final playoff berth in the final game of the regular season, Panther Creek knocked off 19-win Clayton and 18-win Chapel Hill in the playoffs before losing to eventual state champion Broughton in the third round.

“We expect to challenge everybody in our conference and get a better seed for the playoffs [than last year],” said Schuler. “I’m confident this team, if we stay healthy and show the character we did tonight, we can go far.”