SHENANDOAH — On a night when Shenandoah Valley held a festive evening, Panther Valley decided to play the grouch.

Much to the chagrin of Shenandoah, who was celebrating homecoming, it was all Panthers on Friday night. PV cracked the win column for the first time this season, giving first-year boss Rick Jones his first coaching decision at his new post with a 35-6 triumph.

“The first thing I stressed was play hard, play hard,” said Jones.

That was indeed the case. The Panthers found the end zone in a number of ways.

They scored on a cool 17-yard pass from Ethan Reis to Shawn Hoben to inject the momentum, marching 54 yards on their first possession of the evening. Blake Morgans booted the first of his three PAT kicks, and he also ran in a two-point conversion later in the game on a bad snap.

The Panthers had chances to extend their lead, only to watch upstart Shenandoah pick off a pair of passes on PV’s next two possessions.

But with 2:20 to play until halftime, Panther Valley notched its second score needing. Taking advantage of a short 8-yard punt, the Panthers moved 27 yards to paydirt. Senior running back Eric Moyer plunged one yard for the first of his two touchdowns on his way to a 92-yard rushing outing.

Moyer pushed PV’s lead up to 21-0 after a methodical eight-play, 83-yard scoring march, which saw the halfback post runs of 24, 22, 15, 10, seven and the final two yards in the drive.

“I was pleased with the effort,” said Jones. “We had some success running the ball because we were able to spread them out wide … plus we have some kids that run hard.”

Elias Tavares also fits that mold. The 5-11, 177-pound senior chewed up a career best of 129 yards on only 12 touches. He sped 43 yards to the end zone as time expired to end the third quarter, jacking the margin to 27-0 before Morgans ran in the two-point conversion.

“My hat goes off to Shenandoah,” said Jones, paying homage to the Blue Devils team and their coach Kevin Keating — who is bravely batting Parkinson’s Disease.

“We’re not a real focused team just yet,” said Jones, “and that comes from having a third coach in four years.”

Jones knew coming in that this would be a big opportunity for his team to string up a victory.

“We’ve been overmatched, but we’ve played hard all season long.”

Shenandoah Valley cracked the end zone for the first time this season when quarterback Steve Karvois raced 28 yards, but on the ensuing kickoff, Tremaine Ervine went to the house on an 82-yard return to end the game.

“It’s been like this for these kids,” said Keating. “I know it’s been hard for the players, their families, our coaches. But we’re going to turn this around.”

COUNT THE WAY … PV’s ground attack was impressive. The Panthers rushed for 312 yards on 38 carries. Besides Tavares and Moyer, junior Louis Clouser added 56 yards.

STOUT … The Panthers defense was stone-cold, allowing just 53 net yards and only 18 passing yards. Before Karvois hit the end zone with his 28-yard run, the Blue Devils had only 29 net rushing yards.

SOUND OF THE BIG BAND … The Shenandoah Valley Alumni Band combined with the current members for quite an entertaining sound.

GET ON BOARD … Panther Valley hosts Marian Friday in an intriguing matchup.

GREAT TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP … Not only was Jones a class act addressing the Blue Devils after the game, but it showed when Reis helped a SV player get up after being injured late in the game.