Pioneer Valley's offense has been similar to the portable lighting at Pioneer Valley High School's football stadium.

It has improved each week.

Buddy Garcia racked up a total of 197 yards on 13 carries, and he scored three touchdowns as the Panthers routed West Ranch 41-10 at home Friday night. Pioneer Valley (3-0-0) amassed 554 yards of total offense, dwarfing any game total it had before.

The Panthers had 12 first downs in each half. Garcia's night of ball carrying was over after the third quarter.

West Ranch, which is based in Stevenson Ranch, is 1-1-0.

"Good job, linemen," Pioneer Valley coach Greg Dickinson told his offensive front after Steven Cox had scored on a 15-yard run for the Panthers' final touchdown on the last play of the third quarter.

"I guess we'll have to take you to lunch." Cox was Pioneer Valley's third-leading rusher, with 59 yards on nine carries. Shane Vogt had runs of 19, 32 and 13 yards for a total of 64, on three carries. He was the second-leading rusher out of 10 the Panthers had.

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It remains to be seen whether or not Pioneer Valley's offensive linemen get a free meal out in the near future. What was clear Friday night was that center Tyler Vogt, right guard Cody Adams and right tackle Adrian Heredia led a big line surge as the Panthers' offensive line spent most of its time opening gaping holes.

"I give all the credit to the offensive line," Garcia said. "They opened the holes. All we had to do was run through them."

The score was 21-3 at halftime. The outcome was just about certain after Garcia raced 74 yards for a score on the first play after halftime, courtesy of a huge hole Tyler Vogt, Adams and Heredia created.

"We had to get off the ball quick," the center said. "The coaches had told us that in practice all week.

"We went against a front that was more our size. The first two teams we played were pretty big."

The Panthers lost the ball on a fumble their first series. On their next one, they gave an indication of what was to come the rest of the way.

Pioneer Valley drove 87 yards on 13 plays for a score. Garcia took care of the last 10 yards himself. Running back Josiah Morales helped him get in with a good block at the 2.

Besides their excellent run blocking, the Panthers gave quarterback Bryan Beyers outstanding pass protection. Beyers capitalized by connecting on eight of his 10 passes.

Seven of Beyers' completions went to Diego De Miranda. De Miranda, who had 110 yards in receptions, caught an 18-yard pass from Beyers for Pioneer Valley's second touchdown.

West Ranch had trouble with one particular play in particular. Garcia and Pioneer Valley's other backs got a lot of their yardage off "the trap," said Garcia. "We'd really been working on that in practice this week."

"The offensive line had been kind of our weak spot to this point, and we challenged them," said Dickinson. "They met the challenge."

Meanwhile, Pioneer Valley's defense was its stout self.

West Ranch moved the ball well at times, but the Wildcats didn't score a touchdown until Tyler O'Brien ran in from 29 yards out with 6:45 left in the game.

The touchdown was the second the Panthers defense has given up this season.

The Wildcats had an apparent score on a 13-yard pass from quarterback Josh Gibbs to Philip Sunden near the end of the first half, but Sunden dropped the ball as he came down on his back in the end zone. Mick Chenault kicked a 26-yard field goal.

West Ranch had 11 first downs, but the Panthers defense did the bend-don't- break thing well.

Characteristically, "We had a lot of guys going to the ball," said Pioneer Valley linebacker Daniel Segoviano. "That was a big key for us."

Segoviano had a big night on defense. So did fellow linebacker Josh Vogt and defensive lineman Jamie Davis.

The Vogts are brothers. Josh and Shane are junior twins. Tyler is a sophomore.

Dickinson said the Panthers had some starters out, including linebacker Chris Etheridge who has been among their best defensive players.

"He got a little dinged up last week, a mild concussion, and we kept him out," Dickinson said.

With some Panthers starters out, "I was a little nervous before the game," Segoviano said. He and the rest of the Panthers who played held up fine.

Pioneer Valley is home against Golden Valley of Merced next Saturday. Kickoff time is 7 p.m.

Garcia said that is as far ahead as the Panthers are looking. "We're not really focusing on the playoffs," he said. "We're just taking each game week by week."

Sept. 17, 2005