BACK UNDER THE LIGHTS
Panthers take 28-0 lead into halftime, sparked by Coleman who ends up with 3 rushing touchdowns
When both the Chico High and Las Plumas football opponents dropped out of their Friday night matchups, the two teams were able to play each other. The Panthers hosted for their home opener and the Thunderbirds played their first game of the season. Chico High sophomore Travis Dobson (60) wraps up Las Plumas quarterback Jacob Stroud in the Panthers’ home opener Friday in Chico. For the full game breakdown and to find out what happened in Pleasant Valley’s home opener, see today’s sports section,
CHICO >> Despite little-to-no film on each other and the two teams just learning about the matchup Wednesday, the Chico High and Las Plumas football teams battled Friday at Panther Stadium where the Panthers defeated the Thunderbirds 38-0.
The Chico High football team had its game scheduled for Friday with Sutter canceled because Huskies players being exposed to COVID-19, while Las Plumas had its original game canceled with Central Valley due to exposure to the virus as well.
“We’re just grateful to have a game against anybody. Zero days practice fully together at this point,” said Las Plumas coach Tim Harles
prior to Friday’s game. “We don’t know what’s going to happen moving forward so we’re grateful to have a game. We’ll play anybody, any time, any place and that’s every week the rest of the way.”
Chico (1-1) opened its season last week with a loss to Whitney High of Rocklin, getting the OK to play in smoky conditions just five minutes before the start of the game. LP (0-1) had its opening matchup with Anderson canceled because of a COVID-19 exposure at a scrimmage in Oroville which forced the cancellation of nearly a week of practice.
“We know to work harder, push harder and pick our line up. They were getting super emotional,” said Las Plumas senior fullback and defensive end Ethan Hutcheson. “It’s our senior year but they need to realize there’s more games and we need to learn from our mistakes instead of sitting and drowning in them.”
Chico coach Jason Alvistur said his team’s line bonded well over the summer and should be a strength for the Panthers. After Friday’s victory, Alvistur credited a strong practice Wednesday by the Panthers for Friday’s play. He said in this week’s win his team tackled much better, executed plays on offense and made fewer mistakes as a team.
Four minutes into the
first quarter Chico sophomore Dion Coleman ran behind his line for a 35-yard touchdown to give Chico a 7-0 lead, his first of three on the ground. Coleman added a pair of scores in the second quarter, including a 37-yard run just before halftime as the Panthers took a 28-0 lead into halftime.
Coleman, who played his freshman year on the varsity team with the Panthers as well, did not play in Chico’s week one loss because of exposure to COVID-19, but said he was excited to be back on the field making an impact on his team.
Halfway through the third quarter Coleman added an interception on defense.
“I feel great. I owed it to my team, owed it to the fans. None of that was possible without my linemen though. Shoutout to my line,” Coleman said.
Alvistur said Coleman is an outstanding football player and brings a spark to the Panthers on both sides of the ball which showed Friday.
“You can see there’s a real difference in our energy and efficiency when he’s on the field,” Alvistur said. “Dion is a playmaker and he brings a lot to this
team; he’s very important to us.”
In the first quarter LP nearly scored after fullback Hutcheson had several strong runs, despite being without All-League center Maddox Hothan. However, a fumble on a pitch was recovered by Chico’s Seth Cook.
The fumble set up a rushing score by the Panthers’ Saxon Farkas.
Chico increased its lead to 31-0 with a 25-yard field goal with 3:17 left in the third quarter before a twoyard rushing touchdown by the Panthers’ Tanner Parker at the start of the fourth quarter made for a running clock for the remainder of the game.
“We know we have to come to practice hard no matter who we play,” Coleman said. “If we don’t know what they look like, who they look like, we always execute at practice and that’s what makes it perfect in the game.”
Chico now prepares to face Oroville at 7:30 p.m. Friday, while LP prepares for a home matchup of its own at 7:30 p.m. Friday against Lindhurst.
“Chico worked their butts off, they deserve the W that’s why they came out with it,” Hutcheson said. “Everyone kept saying Chico is the top dog, I was trying to look at it as just another game. Very thankful to be out here and that’s why we need to keep our heads in the game. Just keep driving for excellence and perfect execution.”