Panthers stay perfect 28-13
Porterville beats Golden West 28-13
For the second time this season Visalia’s Golden West was sent packing with a loss at Jacob Rankin Stadium after the undefeated Panthers of Porterville stomped out the defending CIF Central Section Division IV champion Trailblazers 28-13 Friday evening.
With Golden West (2-3) running the ball nearly every play, it took Porterville (4-0) sometime to adjust as they allowed the Trailblazers to score first in the final seconds of the first quarter on a 6-yard run from Lonnie Wessel. But from then on out the Panthers’ defense made the adjustments to get the Trailblazers’ offense off the field and allow PHS sophomore quarterback Hector Nava and the offense to take over the game.
On the first drive of the second quarter, PHS freshman Isaiah Ellis showed off why he was brought up to varsity with explosive runs up the middle and down the right side of the line to move the ball from the Panthers’ 30-yard line to the Trailblazers’ 34. Sticking with a run game that used both Ellis and junior Jayson Thao, Porterville got the ball to Golden West’s 3-yard line where Ellis ran it in for his first varsity touchdown.
“He’s a really good player,” PHS head coach Michael Machado said. “He’s got a lot of athletic talent and he picks up the game pretty quick. Like I said, we’re still searching for answers in the back field and he filled a void tonight in the pass game and the run game that we really needed. Kind
of gave us that burst out of the backfield. And so hopefully we get a couple of guys back but after tonight’s performance we’re really happy with him back there. Moving forward he’s only going to get better exponentially every week. He’s so young.”
Rather than tie the game with a PAT by kicker Nick Ward, the Panthers faked a PAT with Nava taking the snap and hitting senior Hunter Alcantar for the 2-point conversion.
Before the end of the half Porterville went up 14-7 with Ward knocking down a 25-yard and then a 28-yard field goal after the Panthers recovered two Trailblazers’ fumbles, including one recovered by PHS senior Aaron Cruz.
Despite scoring two more touchdowns in the third quarter — one on a 24-yard touchdown run by Nava and the other a 13-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jesse Hernandez — Machado told the Panthers he wasn’t happy with the team’s performance on offense.
While the team was able to run up the field on the right side with center Larry Duran, right guard Brandon Rose and right tackle Miguel Madrigal getting the blocks, as well as Nava being able to roll to the left for quick or deep passes with left tackle Saul Barajas and left guard Fernando Leon giving him time to throw; the Panthers wide receivers dropped a number of balls, Nava was sacked multiple times and Porterville’s running backs were hit behind the line of scrimmage several times.
“We had dropped balls, we had missed blocks, we had busted coverages that we didn’t hit,” Machado said. “And those are the plays that you have to make in this type of offense. We’re not a team that wants to grind out games late, so when we have those opportunities we’ve got to make them.”
Golden West scored their final touchdown of the game on a 17-yard run by Wessel but Porterville’s special team defense came through and stopped GWHS Christian Ortiz’s run for an unsuccessful 2-point conversion in the third quarter.
Being able to stop the run was big for the Panthers, as they are just one game away from beginning East Yosemite League play on Sept. 28 at Mission Oak (1-4). The EYL has two of the Valley’s top rushers in Tulare Western’s Tairyn Johnson and Monache’s Aidan Galvan.
“Golden West does a really good job of just running it and running it,” Machado said. “We told them all week, they’re not going to start throwing it. They’re never going to do that. They’re just going to keep running it at you no matter what the score is. And I think it took our guys awhile to realize that that’s what it was going to be what it was. The positive part is that we got them off the field and they didn’t get into the end zone. And against an offense like that, that can be very difficult to do.
“So we bended but we only gave up two scores. We’ve got to be happy with that defensively. We’d like to get a couple quicker three-and-outs and get our offense going a little bit but we’ll take that all day. Anything under 20 on a football field on a Friday night and we’re happy with that defensively,” Machado added.
Also for the Panthers’ defense, senior Benjamin Rodriguez had an interception and a fumble recovery.
Up next, Porterville hosts Div. II Redwood (0-3) on Thursday, Sept. 21 at Rankin Stadium. The Rangers have been outscored 140-40 by opponents, including 67-20 and 38-20 losses to Tulare Union (3-0) and Tulare Western (4-0), respectively.