Behind the outstanding rushing effort of Julian Flores and the stellar defense of Adam Loretto, Miguel Nunez and Christian Cornejo, the Pacheco Panther freshman football team opened the 2022 football season with a 14-0 victory over Golden Valley on Aug. 18.

The young Panthers controlled the game all night on both sides of the ball.  When Flores scored the first of his two touchdowns from 22 yards out late in the second quarter, Pacheco had a lead that they would never give up.

Cornejo and Julius Sams were all over the field making plays on defense that kept the Cougars off the scoreboard.  Late in the fourth quarter Adam Loretto stripped the ball from a Cougar ball carrier and Nunez recovered the fumble on the Golden Valley 22 yard line.

From there the Panthers were able to seal the victory when Flores scored for the second time on a 21-yard scamper to the endzone.  When asked about his scores and how he felt the game went, the young Panther running back said, “It was about my teammates, my coaches and the fans.

“My offensive line (Nolan Todd, Rolando Santos, Bryan Villa and Jacob Taueetia),” Flores added, “did a great job opening the holes for me to run through. Without them I couldn’t do anything.”

Michael Martin