STUTTGART, Germany – A disastrous start to the football season is quickly turning around for the Patch Panthers.

Patch’s Ethan Logan scored the only touchdown of a grueling defensive battle Saturday as the Panthers scraped out a 6-0 win over the visiting Falcons.

The victory is Patch’s first of the season, but it’s enough to spark well-founded optimism for last year’s Division I runner-up. If the Panthers beat winless Lakenheath next week they’ll tie Vilseck at 2-3 on the year and advance to the semifinals by virtue of the head-to-head win it produced Saturday.

That win didn’t come easily. Logan’s score came at the end of the third quarter, and Vilseck advanced to the Patch 20 on a fourth-quarter drive before Jay Deal made a game-sealing interception.

Logan finished with 54 yards rushing, while Nate Mulvay had 46. Vince Stefano had 11 tackles and a sack for the Panther defense; Dalton Stack and Will Miller made eight tackles each.