Brennan Kunkel led Panther Valley to a victory over Shenandoah Valley on Friday night.

Panther Valley

Head coach: Mark Lavine

2023: 2-8

Story by Leroy Boyer

If there’s a trigger word around the Panther Valley football program this season, it’s consistency.

The Panthers have shown flashes of brilliance over the past several seasons, but they haven’t been able to sustain that consistency on a weekly basis. Last season, for example, Panther Valley possessed a strong running attack through the first four weeks of the season, compiling a 2-2 overall record. After a competitive loss in Week 5 to eventual District 11 Class A champion Minersville, the Panthers struggled mightily in the second half of the season, losing five games by a combined score of 231-27.

The good news for Panther Valley is that coach Mark Lavine’s 2024 club has the pieces to improve and be competitive in the new Blue Division (Division III) of the Schuylkill/Colonial Football Cooperative. That is, if they can be consistent on both sides of the ball.

“We have a lot of returning players on both sides of the football and feel like we will be a more versatile team this year with more players contributing each game,” Lavine said. “We need to be better on the defensive side of the football and need to tackle better in order to be successful. We need to be more consistent on both sides of the ball in order to take the next step.”

Among those key returnees is senior running back Brennan Kunkel, who set single-game school records with 324 yards rushing and six touchdowns in a Week 4 win over Shenandoah Valley but finished the season with just 548 yards and nine TDs on 112 carries.

Kunkel is one of 10 Panthers returning on the offensive side of the ball. Junior quarterback Brody Breiner also returns, along with senior wide receivers Brady Jones and Frank Shubeck, senior tight end Logan Fisher, junior fullback Marcus Rodriguez, senior linemen Michael Williams, Clinton Dyer and Zack Seifer and junior lineman Marco Tessitore.

Juniors Gavin Yuricheck and Ben Baneravage will be in the mix at wide receiver, while sophomores Spencer Black, Jerry Harrison and Carlos Maldonado will vie for playing time on the offensive line. All of the players listed above will also play defensively, along with junior linebacker Peter Kurslicky.

“We have several players competing for playing time on both the offensive and defensive lines,” Lavine said. “We also have several wide receivers competing for playing time as well.”

The biggest change for the Panthers in 2024 comes with their schedule. Despite being Class 3A, Panther Valley is in the new small-school Blue Division (Division III) of the Schuylkill/Colonial Football Cooperative, along with Mahanoy Area, Marian, Minersville, Nativity, Pine Grove, Schuylkill Haven, Shenandoah Valley, Tri-Valley and Williams Valley.

The Panthers open their season Friday, Aug. 23, at Salisbury before beginning their league slate.

“I really like the new alignment,” Lavine said. “We are able to play teams our own size without the amount of travel we had the last two years. There are a lot of great teams in our league and some great rivalries as well.”