#1
Panthers Roll in First Three Games 180-22
PALO VERDE HS – The Palo Verde Panthers, a perennial
football powerhouse, demonstrated their offensive strength
in the first three games of this season outscoring their
opponents 180-22 enroute to a 3-0 record.
In their first game they ripped apart the Basic Wolves
47-8. Star running back Ryan Ricafrente led the team with
three touchdowns.
In the second week, they scalped the Western Warriors
71-0, after having a 45-0 lead in the first quarter.
In week three, the Foothill Eagles, another perennial
football powerhouse, traveled to Palo Verde to give the
Panthers an early test.
Foothill’s Jeremy Hitt got the game started with
a big run to the Eagle’s 43-yard-line and then another
big 25-yard run that got Foothill down to the Palo Verde
39-yard-line. On fourth down, Eagle Nicholas Erekson caught
a big pass, getting Foothill down to the Palo Verde 15-yard-line.
While the Panther defense held tough, Foothill went to
the air and completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to give
Foothill the lead. The run failed, and on 14 plays, the
Foothill offense went 74 yards in 6:12 for a powerful 6-0
lead against #1 Palo Verde.
But there was a lot of time left in the game.
Panther Chad Vanyo took the Foothill kickoff back 18 yards
to the Palo Verde 45-yard-line. Palo Verde ran three more
plays to get down to the Foothill 34-yard-line before handing
it off to sophomore Ryan Ricafrente. Ricafrente, who had
three touchdowns in the opening game against Basic, scampered
down the field and found the end zone for the Panthers.
The kick was good and with 4:05 on the clock in the first
quarter, Palo Verde retook the lead 7-6.
The Palo Verde defense started to crack down on the next
Foothill drive. Panther Danny Liles nearly picked off a
pass, and his teammates forced the Eagles to punt. Unfortunately
for the Eagles, the punt went straight up for only 5 yards
and gave Palo Verde prime position at the Foothill 34-yard-line.
Enter guess who…Ryan Ricafrente. Ricafrente ran
34 yards and scored a second Palo Verde touchdown with
only 1:24 left in the first quarter. The kick was good
and the 27-second series of two plays extended Palo Verde’s
lead to 14-6.
Right before the end of the first quarter, Foothill gained
13 yards on a break through pass, but found themselves
caught again by the Palo Verde defense. The Foothill coach
opted for a delay of game penalty before punting the ball
and Palo Verde’s Canton Hutchinson promptly made
them pay for it. He took the return back 68 yards for a
Panther touchdown, and with 11:41 on the clock, Palo Verde
was firmly in control 21-6.
Penalties were affecting the Foothill offense. A costly
one pushed them back to second and 21 at their own 15-yard-line.
Incomplete passes got them to fourth and 21, and the Eagles
were forced again to punt.
The Panthers took back the ball at midfield and then moved
the ball forward 35 yards on a big run by Apollo
Tillman. Ryan Ricafrente blasted past the Eagle defense and found
the end zone for the third time in the game with a 15-yard
run. The kick was good, and Palo Verde was starting to
run away with the game 28-6.
The Eagles made things worse by fumbling the Palo Verde
kickoff. Panther Spencer Haire recovered the football,
and Palo Verde was on the move again. The other Ricafrente brother got into the scoring action on the end of a 30-yard
touchdown pass from Danny Liles. With 9:44 left in the
half, the kick was good, and Palo Verde led 35-6.
Foothill moved the ball down the field behind the arm
of Jeremy Hafen with the ground attack by Jeremy
Hitt.
Hitt found a hole to the 50-yard-line on a big run, but
Foothill ended up punting again to the Palo Verde 29-yard-line.
Palo Verde tried moving the ball with no success and ended
up punting to the Foothill 29-yard-line. The trifecta of
punts ended with a short 7-yard punt to the Foothill 32-yard-line,
where Ricafrente was queued up again.
Ryan Ricafrente converted a 32-yard run into his fourth
touchdown of the night with 2:51 left in the half. The
kick was good and Palo Verde went into halftime with a
dominating 42-6 lead. The Eagles had 176 total yards in
the first half. Ryan Ricafrente himself had more than 100
yards rushing.
Panther Chris Vanyo took the leading kickoff straight
to the end zone giving Palo Verde a 48-6 lead.
Foothill went right back to ground game, moving the ball
behind Jeremy Hitt. Hitt got all the way to the Palo Verde
36-yard-line before Foothill turned over the ball again.
Palo Verde moved the ball to their own 43-yard-line before
David Bliss exploded for a 53-yard touchdown run. The kick
was good, and with 5:12 left in the third, the Panthers
were dominating the game 55-6.
The Panthers went on the attack again when Bryan
Phillips recovered a fumble at the Foothill 33-yard-line. The Eagles
defense was holding tough, but Palo Verde continued working
the ball down the field behind David Bliss. Down at the
Foothill 1-yard-line, Canton Hutchinson again broke free
and scored his second touchdown of the night, a 1-yard
run with 11:57 left in the game. The run was good and the
Panthers held a 62-6 lead.
Foothill, searching for pride, drove the ball down the
field behind the rushing of Jeremy Hitt. He gained 13-yards
to the Palo Verde 45. Pushed up the middle for another
8-yard gain. Forced himself through the Panther defensive
line on fourth and four to keep the Eagles drive going.
It was also Hitt who found a hole on a 2-yard run, adding
a touchdown for Foothill. The pass was good, and Foothill
cut the Palo Verde lead to 62-14 with 5:28 left in the
game.
All that was left was for Foothill to kick an onside kick
and try to recover the ball. But when the Panthers pounced
on it at their own 47-yard-line, the game was pretty much
sealed. Robert Green got another 19-yard run, and the Panthers
ran down the clock and took a knee to end the game.
The first three games Palo Verde played was the true tune-up
for tonight’s match up against #2 Eldorado.
In other week three football action…
B League
Palo Verde 42 Foothill 0
Durango 8 Valley 2
Junior Varsity
Valley 9 Silverado 8
Viking Cory Hawkins had more than 200 yards rushing and
one fumble recovery. Hank Thorns had 125 yards passing.
Field goal kicker Luis Arriaz was 1 for 1. Jose
Ramos and
Peter Hundley led the Viking defense.<more
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