Panther Valley's Brody Breiner rolls right on a keeper during Saturday's win over Pine Grove (Photo by Eli Doyle).

PINE GROVE — Panther Valley went back to basics Saturday night in its Schuylkill-Colonial Blue Division contest at Pine Grove.

The result was the Panthers’ first victory of the season.

Brody Breiner rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown and threw for another as Panther Valley grinded out a 21-6 win over the Cardinals on Homecoming at Cardinal Stadium.

The Panthers (1-3, 1-2 Blue) rode a strong effort by their offensive line to compile 194 yards rushing while the PV defense held Pine Grove to 82 total yards.

“This first win is huge,” Panther Valley coach Mark Lavine said. “We kind of went back to basics today and really tried to get back to the running game. Pine Grove did a good job stopping our passing game but we were able to run the ball, which helped.”

Panther Valley came into Saturday’s game having rushed for just 198 yards in its first three games, losses to Salisbury, Schuylkill Haven and Marian.

Meanwhile, the Panthers were among the top teams in the area in passing offense, with Breiner third in the area in passing yards and Gavin Yuricheck (17) and Chase McArdle (14) ranked 1-2 in pass receptions.

The Panthers flipped the script Saturday, relying on the boys up front. Senior Marco Tessitore, a 6-foot-2, 315-pound tackle, teamed with Carlos Maldanado, Brody Vermillion, Teegan Brideson and Jerry Harrison to control the line of scrimmage and create big holes for Breiner and fullback Carson Jones, who rushed for 64 yards on 19 carries.

“Going into the season we thought that was going to be our strength,” Lavine said of his offensive line. “With five linemen, all five have to be on the same page. If one makes a mistake, it’s a tackle for loss. That’s kind of been our first three games.

“Playing on the same page and having success today, that was huge. They worked hard all week, we watched a lot of film this week, practiced hard and came out tonight.”

The Panthers opened the scoring on their second possession, taking advantage of a 27-yard punt return by Ben Baneravage to the Pine Grove 11. PV scored three plays later, with Breiner hitting Peter Krusicky on an 8-yard jump pass for the score.

Panther Valley’s running game then took center stage on its third possession, driving 64 yards on 13 plays. Jones’ 3-yard run and a two-point conversion pass to McArdle make it 14-0 at the half.

“We’re preaching all week that we have to get the run game going because the last couple of weeks it wasn’t there,” Breiner said. “We found something we really liked behind Marco and Carlos and it was amazing all night. They created a lot of good holes for me.”

Breiner rushed for 86 of his yards in the second half, capping a nine-play, 50-yard drive in the third quarter with a 2-yard TD scamper.

Pine Grove ended Panther Valley’s bid for a shutout on Logan Troup’s 7-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, but Breiner and the Panthers grinded out a 13-play drive that took the final 7:11 off the clock to ice the victory.

“This win is amazing. We’ve been looking for this win since Week 1 … we finally got it this week,” Tessitore said. “Our coach made it a priority this week that we would run the ball, make sure they can’t stop us.”

Pine Grove had just 43 total yards and four first downs through three quarters before mounting its scoring drive in the fourth.

Panther Valley’s play up front was the difference, with Tessitore and defensive end Marcus Rodriguez having big games on defense for Panther Valley.

“This is two straight weeks our defense played well,” Lavine said. “We have athletic kids, some two- and three-year starters, and now we’re tackling better. We make that an emphasis. They’re playing together as a unit, which is nice.”

Added Breiner: “I feel like we had a really gritty defense. Everybody was flying around, getting low, tackling well. We had a couple of goal-line stands, which was amazing to see.”

Game Summary

Panther Valley 21, Pine Grove 6

PV (1-3, 1-2)              6          8          7          0  —    21

PG (0-4, 0-3)              0          0          0          6  —    6

PV — Kruslicky 8 pass from Breiner (pass failed)

PV — Jones 3 run (McArdle pass from Breiner)

PV — Breiner 2 run (Williams kick)

PG — Troup 7 run (pass failed)

Team Statistics

                                    PV          PG

First Downs                17           7

Rushes-Yards              46-194    28-62

Passes                          6-12-0    2-11-0

Passing Yards             35           20

Total Yards                 229         82

Fumbles/Lost              1-1          1-0

Penalties                      7-53        3-25

Individual Statistics

RUSHING: Panther Valley — Breiner 20-116, Jones 19-64, Baneravage 3-11, Yuricheck 1-2, Rodriguez 2-2, Rolon 1-1. Pine Grove — Troup 18-51, Snyder 8-28, Kurtz 1-3, Team 1-(-20).

PASSING: Panther Valley —- Breiner 6-11-0, 35; Baneravage 0-1-0, 0. Pine Grove —- Snyder 2-11-0, 20.

RECEIVING: Panther Valley — Yuricheck 1-14, Kruslicky 1-8, McArdle 3-7, Baneravage 1-4. Pine Grove — Dixon 1-14, Troup 1-6.

INTERCEPTIONS: None.