Panthers upset Emperors in opener
PHS defeat Valley’s No. 14 team
The screams and cheers from not only the sidelines but the band and fans decked out in orange and green exemplified the exhilarating feeling of Porterville High School pulling off a stunning, last minute 33-31 comeback over Dinuba in Thursday night’s season-opening football game at Rankin Stadium.
On full display for the first time was the Panthers (1-0) junior-heavy team led by sophomore quarterback Hector Nava, who proved to be everything the PHS head coach Michael Machado had predicted him to be when selecting him as the team’s starter. Nava threw for 429 yards and five touchdowns — including two in the final minute — on 25-of-41 completions with two interception. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 58 yards on 10 carries.
“He’s just the ultimate competitor, he’s a coach on the field and he’s young,” Machado said. “He’ll never quit, he leads by example. He’s a vocal leader. He does everything we ask him to do and more. And when that’s your quarterback, you always have a shot to win any game, at any point, no matter what the score is.”
In no way did the win over the CIF Central Section’s No. 14 ranked — and Division II’S No. 3 ranked — Emperors (0-1) come easy, with the Panthers going from being down 31-14 at the start of the fourth to scoring 19 unanswered points for the victory.
“They’ve been the standard from Division II and III for the last 10-12 years,” Machado said. He added, “I’m just proud of our kids because they kept playing. They knew it was a four-quarter game and they made the plays they need to make down the stretch and quarterback played out of his mind in probably three of the four quarters so that helped too.”
On three out of their four drives in the fourth, the Panthers came away with no less than six points beginning with a 29-yard touchdown pass from Nava to junior running back Javier Benevidez (91 yards, two touchdowns). The two linked up two drives later for a 9-yard touchdown to cut Dinuba’s lead to just four at 31-27 with 49 seconds left after PHS junior
Nick Ward’s PAT was blocked.
A perfectly executed onside kick, recovered by senior Austin Crabtree gave Porterville the ball back near midfield. Starting from their own 49-yard line, Nava hit Benevidez over the middle for a 16-yard touchdown pass to cross into Emperor territory then immediately followed up the play with a 35-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass to senior receiver Hunter Alcantar leaving just 18.2 seconds on the clock after a missed PAT.
On what was going through his head on that last drive, Nava said, “Just not to turn it over, make smart decisions. Throw it out of bounds if there’s nothing open, just make smart decisions.”
In the first quarter Porterville and Dinuba went back-to-back on their first two drives with the Panthers’ Jesse Hernandez (92 yards, one touchdown) scoring on a 5-yard pass and Alcantar (71 yards, two touchdowns) scoring on a 12-yard pass after the team’s faked a field goal. Dinuba answered both scores with a 9-yard rushing touchdown from Joshua Martinez and a 26-yard pass to Corey Crosper from quarterback Josh Magana.
Magana who only had two interceptions last season, was picked off by PHS senior Eduardo Ramos, but still threw for 154 yards and one touchdown on 10-of-24 completions.
In the second and third quarter, Porterville was held scoreless while Dinuba went on to score 17 unanswered points on 6- and 8-yard touchdown runs by Julian Gutierrez and a 27-yard field goal by Christian Hernandez.
Despite the win, Machado said the team still needs to clean up their defensive front and run game before their Friday, Aug. 24, game at Rankin Stadium against Granite Hills. Porterville rushed for just 111 yards and the team’s top back, senior Demario Ennis, totaled just 32 yards on 10 carries while leading the team in receiving yards with 127.