You have to love the Alberton Panthers football team.

This is a hardy group of young guys who apparently do not have the word “quit” in their vocabulary.

In just their first full season playing Montana High School football on the varsity level without being affiliated with another school, the Panthers on a weekly basis scrape by with just over or just at the minimum number of players to field a six-player team.

And they have been on the south end of the north bound victory train so far, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t chasing the train down the tracks.

The latest example of heart came during their 66-6 home loss Friday night to the Twin Bridges Falcons in a Western 6-player conference encounter.

The Falcons scored first and often during the game, which at more than one point had Alberton with just six healthy players available.

Twin Bridges, which rose to 3-2 on the year with the win, jumped out to a quick lead via an eight yard TD run by quarterback August Witham, who had a multiple touchdown game throwing, running and returning the ball on kicks.

That first score put the Falcons ahead 8-0 as Witham also kicked the point after touchdown (PAT).

From there, Twin Bridges blitzed the thin Alberton defense for a total of 45 first quarter points, most of them via the arm and legs of Witham.

They boosted that lead to 53-0 on a short TD run by Christopher Poirier in the waning moments of the second quarter.

Then some Alberton heart made itself visible.

With sophomore quarterback Tater Herman back in the game after being injured and sidelined in the opening quarter and time running out in the first half of play, Herman found lanky, 6-2 freshman wide out Shea Fredette over the top with a pass that Fredette hauled in while stumbling, righted himself and sprinted 58-yards for a touchdown as time expired in the first half.

At halftime, the Panthers trailed 53-6, but their last second, half-ending score showed they were still playing hard.

Alberton would go on to yield 13 more points to the Falcons in the second half while being held scoreless by the Falcons’ defense, dropping their season record to 0-6. But as they fell, they showed once again there is no quit in Panthersville.

Next up for Alberton is a bye this weekend. They return to action Friday, October 13 when they host Lima, another team with player numbers problems so far this year in the wacky world that is Montana six-player football.