Pioneer Valley made less mistakes than Righetti did. Thus, the Panthers won the inaugural Big Game Friday night.

Pioneer Valley had three penalties and one turnover to Righetti's 12 penalties and three turnovers, and the Panthers took a 19-14 win at their stadium before an enthusiastic, overflow crowd in the season opener for both games.

It was also the first varsity game between the two teams. Pioneer Valley head coach Greg Dickinson bagged a win over his former team. The Panthers also earned the first Big Game Trophy - a helmet with half Righetti colors and half Pioneer Valley colors.

“This gives us a big boost, man,” Pioneer Valley linebacker Chris Etheridge said. He, fellow ‘backer Josh Vogt and lineman Steven Sapien led a defensive surge that shut out Righetti after intermission. The Warriors led 14-7 at halftime.

“We're the team to beat on the Coast now.” Pioneer Valley is a third-year program with a second-year varsity team. The school has its first senior class this school year.

The Panthers tied the game with 6:59 left in the third quarter. Aaron Hernandez took quarterback Bryan Beyers' short pass, ran through a would-be tackle at the 7, and then rambled in. Andres Montiel kicked the tying extra point.

Pioneer Valley went ahead on, well, a Righetti mistake. With punter Kyle Leon camped in his own end zone, a high snap went high off his hands and out of the end zone for a safety and a 16-14 Panthers lead with 5:44 to play.

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Earlier, Leon, who was the game's leading rusher with 118 yards on 17 carries, (he was also a leading team tackler at linebacker) bailed the Warriors out. Another high snap sailed over his head, but he retrieved the ball inside the 10 and got the punt off.

The Panthers took over at the Warriors 36, but Righetti's defense held.

“The team that turns it over less, makes the least mistakes wins and they did that,” a somber Righetti head coach Gary Wilson said afterward. “They played a great game.

“As a coaching staff we probably lost this one, and I told the boys that. We're going to get together with our boys and see if we can get this straightened out. They've had their kids for three years. We're a young team, and we're going to learn.”

Shane Vogt returned the free kick after the safety 18 yards to the Righetti 47. That set up Montiel's 37-yard field goal with 3:42 to play.

Six plays later, Panthers defensive back Steve Rucobo killed the Warriors' last chance when he picked off quarterback Adam Wilson's pass at the Pioneer Valley 30.

He returned the ball eight yards, Beyers took three snaps and kneeled down three times, and the Panthers had their huge win.

“I was expecting (Wilson) to scramble, but he didn't,” Rucobo said after his big pick. However, “I was able to read,” Wilson's pass.

Wilson, Gary's son, was a difficult man for the Panthers to bring down. He gained 69 tough yards on 16 carries.

Still, he didn't break the Panthers, and that was all Dickinson was hoping for.

“We wanted to contain him, and I think we did,” he said. “He's a heck of an athlete.

“I'm just so proud of the kids, how far they've come from two years ago. It took Righetti 18 years to beat Santa Maria. It didn't take us that long,” to beat Righetti.

The Warriors received the second half kickoff and embarked on a promising drive, but a 15-yard block-in-the-back penalty helped short-circuit that. The Panthers hit Wilson for a big loss the next play.

Leon and Wilson were making effective short runs on a Righetti fourth-quarter drive, but then the Panthers' Andrew Gonzales recovered Leon's fumble at the Pioneer Valley 49.

“I hit (Leon) and (Gonzales) recovered the fumble,” Etheridge said.

The first mistake Friday night happened on the opening kickoff, and the miscue was the Panthers'.

Righetti's Chris Graham recovered the fumbled opening kickoff at the Pioneer Valley 37. The Warriors, mainly behind linemen Eric Jones and Steven Alurac, marched downfield and scored in eight plays. Leon took the ball the last three yards.

Pioneer Valley answered with a 16-play, 80-yard scoring drive. The Warriors' miscues started then, as they helped the Panthers along with two offside penalties. The second one came on a fourth-and-four at Righetti's 41. Victor Bryson scored on a quick hitter from two yards out.

Righetti was hit with 35 yards in penalties on Pioneer Valley's 80-yard scoring drive in the second half.

The Warriors saw the lead for the last time when Leon sprinted 50 yards to the end zone in the second quarter.

“We just got caught in a bad blitz,” said Dickinson.

The Panthers, with a first-and-goal at the 6, looked all set to score on their next drive. They didn't. Charles Hedrick and the rest of the middle of Righetti's defense stopped Beyers an inch short of the goal line on a fourth-down sneak.

“We should have scored then,” said Dickinson.

Etheridge said the Panthers were amped before the game - a little too amped.

“We were too excited in the first half. When we calmed down in the second half, we were fine. We played the way we can play.”

Dickinson said, “I thought we played pretty well in the first half. There was just that one play,” when Leon broke the 50-yarder.

“I thought if we could stay away from the big play in the second half, we'd be all right and we did.”

Pioneer Valley plays at Palmdale Knight next Friday night. Righetti hosts South Bakersfield then. Both games kick off at 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 2, 2006