News Bulletin Castroville • La Coste
Sports
Thursday, October 10, 2013
4
Panthers fight off Kennedy Rockets for district win Ken Gallegos Sports Writer The Medina Valley Panthers found out the hard way that football games are really not over until the final quarter ends. After jumping out to a 21-0 lead over the Kennedy Rockets on the road in San Antonio, the Panthers had to hold on until the final buzzer to preserve a 34-26 victory. It would not take long for the Panther offense to catch fire and with its first possession, quarterback David Olvera found Brad Griggs streaking down the sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown pass. Griggs made a great catch, and after fighting off a Rocket defender, sprinted the final 25 yards on his own. “Brad has been a big play threat for us all year,” said Head Coach Steve Hale. “He has great vision on the field which makes him a great runner and route runner. As a defensive player, you need to know where Brad is all the time.” Before the crowd could get settled, junior safety Kristian Williams did his part with an 81-yard interception and return for a touchdown. Just like that, the Panthers were up 14-0 after the Jonathan Groff kick. A Kennedy fumble on the
Quarterback David Olvera, 18, was on fire during Friday night’s road game against the Kennedy Rockets, throwing for 10 of 18 with 247 yards including his longest pass of the night for 75 yards that went to number 4 Bradley Griggs. His plays resulted in three touchdowns for the Medina Valley Panthers in their first district win. (Photo by Janine Modgling) kickoff fell in the hands of Cody Moos and once again the men in orange and black were ready to strike. And when Olvera found Griggs again, this time on 36-yard scoring strike, it looked like the blowout was on. MV would add a 28-yard
DJ Wendel, 36, Hunter Peterson,34, David Torees, 22, and Jonathan Groff, 28, get the tackle. (Photo by Janine Modgling)
Panthers to take on Cardinals Friday Timmy Rodriguez who has piled up 356 yards on 70 carries. On the defensive side of the ball, the Cardinals should be at their strongest with eight returners with the group led by linebacker Diego Avila who led the team with a whopping 112 tackles last season. Alex Diaz will also be trying to fill the gaps in the middle at the other linebacker position, with help from the secondary in Brandon Herrera. The Panthers, now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in district play, after a loss to Harlandale last week, will have to keep their eyes open and not look down the road with a tough Cardinal team
in town for Homecoming. Last year at Southside, the Panthers had to overcome an early 15 point deficit before blowing things wide open in the second half to escape with a hard-fought win. Each week the Panthers continue to progress with Coach Steve Hale’s new offense and the Panthers have also showed that there are plenty of offensive weapons for this new style of play in players like Brad Griggs, Josh Sepulveda, Devin Ogden and Kenny Gallegos, while the defense continues to play steady and stiffens up when it has to. Friday night’s matchup with the Cardinals begins at 7 p.m.
Player
Player
OFF THE THE WEEK! WEEK
OFF THE THE WEEK! WEEK Katelyn Holzhaus
Joseph Martinez
Ken Gallegos Sports Writer When the Southside Cardinals visit Panther Stadium this Friday for Homecoming, they will have one thing on their mind: getting their first win of the season and becoming the district spoiler. The Cardinals are at the bottom of the district 29-4A race with an overall record of 0-5 with half the season left to play. Southside is returning four offensive and eight defensive starters from last year’s 5-5 season, and is having a rough go of it in 2013. The Cardinals losses include pre-district losses to Devine, Sam Houston and Central Catholic along with district losses to Memorial and Uvalde. The shining star for the Cardinals, at least on offense, has been sophomore quarterback Johnny Trevino. Although he has traded snaps with Jake Ramos, Trevino, at 6’2” 205 pounds, is solidifying his spot for the future with the Cardinals. After five games, Trevino has completed 37-93 passes for 432 yards with two touchdowns, but unfortunately 13 big interceptions which should have the Panther secondary licking their chops. The big sophomore is equally as dangerous on the ground where he has carried the pigskin 83 times for 315 yards and has been helped out by running back
2013 MEDINA VALLEY Panthers
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DATE October 10
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field goal off of the sure foot of senior kicker Jonathan Groff early in the second quarter for a 24-0 lead, but the Rockets finally gained a little traction and marched 64 yards. That possession was capped off with a Blade Alvarado one-yard run for
the touchdown, putting the score at 24-6. But Olvera was just getting warmed up, and this time he found senior Devin Ogden open on a 61-yard scoring strike. And after another interception by Williams, the Panthers ended the near perfect first half with a 31-6 lead, but unfortunately the Panther offense cooled down during the halftime festivities and would only manage three more points in the second half. A fumble early in the second half by Olvera on the Medina Valley one-yard line set up the Rockets’s next score that closed the gap slightly to 31-12. The Rockets struck again early in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard pass play that made the score 31-18. Groff seemed to put the game out of reach with a 32-yard field goal with 1:27 left on the clock, but an 85-yard kickoff return by Matthew Guzman made it a one-possession game with 1:15 left. The Panthers did what they needed to do during the critical stretch to hold off the Rockets and were able to get away with their first win of district play. After the win Coach Hale still saw progress with the team. “I have seen unbelievable improvement on offense and defense the last two weeks,” he said. “We are getting better each week.” This Friday the Panthers will host the Southside Cardinals for their Homecoming game at Panther Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
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