SHENANDOAH – Panther Valley’s Brennan Kunkel had quite a night.

Panther Valley’s sturdy junior running back shattered the school’s single-game rushing record with 328 yards and scored all six of the Panthers’ touchdowns Friday night in a 39-21 victory over Shenandoah Valley.

The previous record was 268 yards by Dave Evans in a win over Mahanoy Area in 1974.

Panther Valley improved to 2-2, while the Blue Devils fell to 1-3.

Kunkel used fancy footwork, his speed, and a line that opened holes to run roughshod over Shenandoah.

“I couldn’t do it without my line,” Kunkel said. “I mean, this is not just about me, it’s about our team and the entire way we played. It was amazing to be able to get that type of (yards).”

Kunkel set the tone from the onset. He ripped off back-to-back touchdown runs on the first two possessions. He blazed 71 yards to put his team up 7-0 after Mergim Bushati’s extra point kick.

On the second Panther Valley touchdown, Kunkel capped off a 3-play, 78-yard drive to stretch the lead 13-0.

But the Blue Devils turned to their super-star receiver Nick Ryan who teamed with quarterback Ben Dempster for a 7-yard pass; later Ryan raced 73 yards on a touchdown run before hooking up with his quarterback for a terrific 43-yard pass. Ryan had 4 catches for 101 yards while breaking the school’s all-time receiving yards and receptions records.

That wasn’t enough to slow down Panther Valley’s rushing attack which was unleashed by design, said second-year coach Mark Lavine.

“First off the way Brennan played he sure would tell you that his line made it happen,” Lavine said. “We want to establish the run. We want to get that (running) attack established, which we did and (Kunkel) was just sensational. Our line did it all and that’s something we needed to make happen to win.”

After the Devils hit the end one on Ryan’s touchdown, Panther Valley ramrodded its way to another score. Aunkel capped a terrific 91-yard march which took 7 plays, the final 11 yards coming off a power sweep.

Shenandoah Valley wasn’t fading and when Ryan latched onto a 43-yard touchdown pass from Dempster, that made it 21-14 game.

But the Panthers revved it up two more times before the half. Kunkel raced 14 yards for his fifth touchdown and then danced 14 yards for a 32-21 halftime lead.

“We went Power-I,” Lavine said about the formation with two backs leading the way for Kunkel. “We stayed on our blocks; we focused this week not having any missed blocks ... I think the line really responded.”

The line dominated the third quarter as PV kept possession for most of the period, though it failed to crack the end zone. The defense came up huge later in the period thanks to a fourth-down play by Brad Jones, and the relentless efforts of Brian Walter and Marco Tessitore.

The Panthers kept working their line play and Kunkel capped off his night to remember with his sixth touchdown, plowing his way from two yards out with less than six minutes to play.

POUND AND POUND … The Panthers used a full house backfield on more than one occasion, with Kunkel picking holes and racing through them all game.

HE CAN PASS IT … Don’t think that Brody Breiner is just a handoff guy; he can let it fly. He threw a nifty strike to tight end Logan Fisher for a 21-yard gain and was 4-for-6.

KUNKEL DID IT … Kunkel also picked off a pass late in the game, thwarting a would-be Shenandoah threat.

RYAN’S NIGHT ... The 6-3 Shenandoah receiver is the real deal. He has speed, range and can go up and get the ball. Lavine said the difference from last year... “he’s gotten so much stronger and is more aggressive.”

OH BROTHER … There was a total of 27 penalties.