FORT DEFIANCE – Fort Defiance’s magical postseason run came to an end Tuesday evening in the Class 3 State Boys Soccer Quarterfinals against the relentless Bruton Panthers.

The Panthers scored on a penalty kick to lead 1-0 at the half and the visitors put the game away in the second half with two goals less than a minute apart to down Fort 3-0.

The Indians entered the game short-handed, missing nine players from the roster for various reasons. That forced head coach Brian Elwood to rely on a couple of reserves along with two players up from the junior varsity.

“We knew what we were up against tonight,” said Elwood concerning his depleted roster.

The Panthers controlled play for much of the first half, keeping possession in their offensive third. Bruton earned two corner kick opportunities in the first three minutes but could not take advantage.

Fort keeper Carson Biller made several saves in the first 20 minutes of action before a foul in the box gave Bruton a penalty kick opportunity.

The Panthers’ Eli Mitchell connected on a PK with 18:53 left in the first half for a 1-0 lead.

Bruton made it 2-0 when Noah Kellam tucked a shot from straightaway just under the crossbar with 26:08 left in the second half. Just 41 seconds later, Jordan Bridges’ shot from close range went off Biller’s hand and trickled across the goal line for a 3-0 advantage.

“I thought the PK was a tough call,” said Elwood. “Without the PK and an unfortunate goal that Carson pushed in, it could have been a 1-0 game and that would have been a great defensive effort. 3-nil with what we had tonight was a heck of a defensive effort.”

Despite the loss, the Indians have made history in each of the past two seasons.

“Last year we got the first regional win in school history and this year we got the first regional title for boys’ soccer in school history. They accomplished something that hadn’t been done before,” said Elwood.

“These guys believed in what I was trying to build,” Elwood continued. “They played for each other, played as a team and not for individual accomplishments. Going forward, hopefully they can build off these past couple seasons and feed off it.”