"Winning ugly" is a term used a lot in football. The term basically describes a victory where everything might not go exactly you're way, but you still pull out the "W."

That's exactly what Panther Valley did on Friday night. The Panthers made some mistakes, but they never gave in, defeating Anthracite Football League opponent Minersville 28-24.It was the second win in a row for a PV team that started out the season 0-7.The story of the night for the Panthers was big plays.Every time the Miners seemed to mount some sort of momentum in the ball game the Panthers answered back and surprisingly they took to the air to do so.PV sophomore quarterback Hunter Kennedy threw three touchdowns passes for the first time in his career against the Miners and it couldn't have come at a better time.Kennedy's main man on the night was Danny Gilberry, as the two hooked up for scores of 26 and 22 yards. It was the kind of performance from the young signal-caller that could pay huge dividends in the future for the Panthers."I just tried to put the ball in spots tonight where only my guys cold catch it," said Kennedy. "Danny Gilberry made some pretty great catches tonight; I just have so much confidence in him to make plays out there for us. This was one of those wins where it shows our toughness. We pushed hard all game and we came away with the win."After Panther Valley jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter, the Miners responded with a scoring drive of their own. A 49-yard run by Kei'Dre Taylor brought the Miners in the red zone. Five plays later, Taylor finished off the drive with a four-yard plunge for six.The Panthers went on to add another score in the quarter. However, Minersville once again showed resiliency, as it scored two more touchdowns in the second to bring the halftime score to 21-18 in favor of the Panthers."We didn't do everything perfect tonight and there's things we definitely need to work on, but we're getting better every week," said Panther Valley head coach Matt Davis. "That has been a goal of ours since the season started and it's something that's happening now for us. I'm just proud of the way these kids played tonight because they never gave up."Davis was right on, as Kennedy and Gilberry once again came through for the Panthers in the ball game with their second hook up of the night. A beautiful fade to right sideline fell into Gilberry's outstretched arms right inside the front pylon to give PV a 28-18 lead at the 8:36 mark in the fourth. The score was the cushion the Panthers needed to come away with the win.Minersville would add a late touchdown to get within four, but the Panthers recovered its onside kick attempt to seal the victory."This is a game that maybe PV wouldn't have won in the recent years," said Davis. "We didn't fold when thing didn't go our way tonight, we responded and that's a mark of a tough football team. Those are the kind of things you love to see out of your kids. It was a great way for our seniors to go out at home."WHY THE AIR?... PV has mostly been a running team this season, but took to the air to score three of its four touchdowns. "They were putting some extra guys in the box to take away our run game and we knew that was probably going to be their game plan. We had a lot of one on one opportunities and we took advantage." - Panther Valley head coach Matt Davis.THUNDER & LIGHTNING... The Panthers Rene Figueroa and Anthony Vavra did a good job of moving the chains for PV in the running game on Friday. Figueroa, who is more of a slasher rushed for 79 yards, while his counterpart bruised his way to 58 yards and a touchdown.TWO CATCHES... PV's Nate Miller only had two catches on the night, but both were pretty important. Miller caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Kennedy in the first quarter and also intercepted a Minersville pass in the fourth.