Last Friday night in Veterans Stadium, the Pacheco Panther (1-1) varsity football team came from a 14-0 deficit to defeat the Chavez Titans of Stockton by the final score of 16-14.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Titans used a long drive to score their first touchdown and take a 7-0 lead over the home team Panthers.
Chavez made it 14-0 before halftime, when a Titan lineman tipped a Panther pass, intercepted the ball and returned it for a touchdown.
But in the second half the Panther defense, led by Issac Valencia (six tackles and a fumble recovery), Adam Loretto (five tackles) and Robert Crawford (four tackles) stymied the Titan offense, never allowing them to score again.
With its defense shutting down Chavez, the Panther offense went to work in the third period.
A Brennan Watkins interception set up the first Pacheco score. A promising drive stalled at the Titan 15-yard line, and Rafael Vargas Hernandez came on to kick a 35-yard field goal to get the Panthers on the scoreboard, still trailing 14-3.
Valencia got the ball right back for the Panthers when he recovered a Titan fumble.
The Panthers used some outstanding line blocking by Xavier Flores, Zach Perkins and Siasi Via to drive right down the field to score their first touchdown of the game, with Valencia (nine carries, 57 yards, and a TD) scoring from nine yards out. The two-point conversion try failed, and the Titan lead was cut to 14-9, midway through the third quarter.
Early in the fourth period, Pacheco finally took the lead, when Brennan Watkins (filling in for the injured Aiden Pikas) connected with Peyton Mosely (six receptions, 68 yards, a TD) on a nine-yard scoring pass. When Vargas kicked the conversion to make it 16-14, the Panthers comeback was complete.
Watkins (8 of 13 passing, 81 yards, TD, 17 carries, 83 yards) paced the Pacheco offense with Jacob Sanchez (10 carries, 50 yards) contributing in the running game.
In the JV game, the Panthers prevailed over the Titans by a 12-6 final score.
The Panthers will host the crosstown Los Banos Tigers Fri., Sept. 7. JV begins at 5 p.m. and varsity at 7 p.m.
