Statistics certainly didn’t tell the story in Friday night’s 14-13 Schuylkill League Division 2 win for Panther Valley over Shenandoah Valley.

The game saw several sacks on both quarterbacks, along with a total of eight fumbles.

The Panthers (2-4) were able to basically win the game based upon two plays.

After Shenandoah finished a 17-play, first-quarter drive for an opening 7-0 advantage, Elias Tavares ran the ensuing kickoff 67 yards to the Devils’ 1-yard line where Panther quarterback Ethan Reis punched the ball into the end zone. Reis then found Shawn Hoben in the back of the end zone for what turned out to be a turning point two-point conversion and an early 8-7 PV lead.

The play from both sides was mired with one step forward and two steps back. Several sacks on both teams resulted in a combined minus 68 yards. Add that statistic to the eight total fumbles, three of which were lost by the Devils, and you have a deadly combination of drive killers.

Up by one point with just over a minute to go in the first half, Reis connected with wideout Blake White on a 47-yard pass-and-run touchdown. White jumped high and reached over the defender to make an outstanding catch to put PV on top by a score of 14-7 at the break.

Early in the second half, Shenadoah fought back. On a third-and-11 at its own 39-yard line, Devils quarterback Joseph Karvois hooked up with Alex Donchak on a 56-yard completion to the Panther five. Two plays later, Karvois snuck in to put Shenandoah down by one. The Devils elected to go for the two-point conversion and the lead, but Karvois’ pass into the end zone fell incomplete.

“You can’t win if you beat yourselves,” said Shenandoah coach Kevin Keating. “We fought hard to the end and we had a dropped pass that might have won it for us, but our lack of offense has hurt us all year. That could be because our numbers are thin and all our kids play offense, defense, and special teams as well.”

“A win is a win,” said Panther Valley coach Scott Priice. “We’d make four yards a carry, but then we’d fumble. We have to protect the ball.”

Price tried to catch the Devils off guard with under two minutes to go with his offense deep in their own territory by calling a pass play, but the throw went incomplete. The Panthers punted the ball back to the Devils but they ran out of timeouts and then they ran out of time.

“Like I said, a win is a win,” said Price. “But we left points on the field.”

FOOTBALL QUEEN CANDIDATE ... Panthers defensive back, Samantha Janner, was nominated as a homecoming queen and got to ride in a sports car while in full football uniform as part of the pregame festivities.

FLAG FAIL ... The game had a total of nine penalties, which prevented both teams from sustaining scoring drives.