Panther Valley wanted to set a tempo and establish a rhythm early on last week against Shenandoah Valley.

Brennan Kunkel was happy to help the Panthers hit the ground running.

Kunkel ran 35 times for a school-record 324 yards during a 39-21 victory over Shenandoah Valley last Friday. Kunkel scored all six of his team’s touchdowns to help the Panthers improve to 2-2.

That performance earned him the Times News Football Player of the Week.

“This is my first big game like that,” said Kunkel. “It feels amazing, to set the tone a little bit and just to get the momentum early on.”

The junior scored on the team’s first two possessions of the game, finding the end zone from 71 and 27 yards out.

“It feels good, gaining the coaches trust game by game, and just letting them believe in me and getting me more carries,” said Kunkel. “It’s just an amazing feeling having our whole team come together. Everybody was blocking amazing and we were just having a good time on the field, doing our job and luckily we got the win.”

Kunkel flashed the talent and showcased the strides he’s made in all facets of the game last Friday night.

“Even in the last two years, like last year he was a little bit more of a receiver for us. We played him at tailback, but we ran Michael Pascoe so much, it’s not like we handed him the ball 20 times,” said Panther Valley head coach Mark Lavine. “And he’s a very athletic kid, can catch the ball, can run the ball. He really is, just a heck of an athlete. But this year, playing the true tailback position, he’s really come a long way. He has that burst, that I think maybe even caught us a little bit by surprise. He was breaking some tackles on Friday, which was nice to see. And he plays defense as well, so being able to play a complete game was nice to see as well. He’s very durable.

“We sent him to Nick Ryan the entire game. He knew he had that on him plus he returns kicks, he returns punts.”

Kunkel’s assignment on defense was Ryan, who has the Blue Devils’ all-time receiving yards and receptions record, is averaging 102.5 receiving yards per game and has 10 total touchdowns (nine receiving) this season.

Kunkel came up with a pick on defense, stopping a Shenandoah drive.

Kunkel added touchdown runs of 11, 17, 1 and 2 yards for the Panthers, and also had two catches for 15 yards.

The junior knew he was having a good night. But he wasn’t quite sure how good.

“It was at halftime, my one manager came up to me and said I had 215 in the first half,” Kunkel smiled. “And I was like, ‘Oh, well that’s pretty good for the first half.’ But I never knew what the record was before the game.”

Neither did his coaches.

“I could say we did not know the number at all during the game, so we were not trying to get him anything,” Lavine said. “We really didn’t know, but we knew he had a lot, we really did.”

His performance broke the previous mark of 268 set by Dave Evans in 1974.

“He’s a great team player,” said Lavine. “He really is a humble kid. He really deserves everything he’s getting this week. I’m really happy for him.”

And they’re accolades that don’t come without stellar play from those around him.

“It feels amazing to look up and see a five-foot wide hole, and I can go wherever I want,” Kunkel said of the blocking. “They just let me do my thing.”

Left tackle Marco Tessitore, left guard Brad Jones, center Clinton Dyer, right guard Michael Williams, right tackle Eli Maynard, tight end Logan Fisher, fullback Marcus Rodriguez, and power back Brian Welser were paving the way. The Panthers also ran double-tight sets with Mergim Bushati and Danny Wehr at the other tight end as well, while quarterback Brody Breiner also completed several big passes.

The record – and the victory – were shared by the entire team.

“It’s neat too, because the O-line really gets behind it just as much,” said Lavine. “They track their pancake blocks, they get stickers for their pancake blocks, but they get excited about it and they want to run the ball more, and they want to keep feeding him. They know it’s not just about him, it’s about them, and the power backs know it’s about them as well. It really is that group of kids who’s out there at the time, they just want to keep doing it over and over.

“And I think they see it, when we have a gameplan going in. We said we wanted to come out in the Power-I and establish it. And then when we can actually do it, I think they see, ‘OK, all the work is paying off.’”