Pioneer Valley quarterback Bryan Beyers had a grand total of five yards on five carries Friday night.

Emphatically unimpressive, right?

Wrong.

Beyers scored twice on three-yard runs as Pioneer Valley edged a game and tough Templeton squad 20-12 on the inaugural Seniors Night at Pioneer Valley. Beyers carried twice for no yards and took a knee for a one-yard loss on the last play of the game.

“It seems like a lot of the time I carry the ball, it's close to the goal line,” the senior said wryly as Pioneer Valley (4-2, 5-3-0) rallied from 12-7 down at halftime to nip the Eagles (2-3, 5-3-0).

The Panthers, a second-year varsity team, all but clinched a playoff berth. Their defense preserved the win by finally snuffing out an impressive Templeton final drive.

Eagles quarterback Jacob Fitzgerald connected with Brent Cordle (122 reception yards on the night) for 22 yards to the Panthers 31 on a fourth-and-20. On fourth-and-six, Fitzgerald delivered again, this time scrambling for 10 yards to the Pioneer Valley 17.

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On their third straight fourth down, from the 10, the Eagles came up a yard short. Linebackers Chris Etheridge and Josh Vogt stopped Jimmy McCaffrey on a run up the middle with 1:06 to play.

“I thought, by the footing of the referee, that it was short,” said Pioneer Valley defensive back Steve Rucobo. “But you can't ever tell.” At least until a measurement comes. It came, and then the Panthers got the good news.

Templeton had one timeout left, but Frank Tovar ran for five yards and a first down on the Panthers' second play after their big stop. That sealed it.

The Eagles' touchdowns came on McCaffrey's three-yard run, and Fitzgerald's 15-yard pass to Tyler Bogart 27 seconds before halftime.

Josiah Morales ran for 103 yards on 13 carries, and his 25-yard run on first down from the 22 jump started the Panthers' 78-yard drive for the winning touchdown.

Beyers set the score up by hitting Morales for 24 yards to the Templeton six on fourth-and-eight. On the next play, Alex Teniente gave Morales a timely block, and Morales scooted past a group of Templeton defenders and into the end zone with 10.4 seconds in the third quarter.

The pass to Morales accounted for nearly half of Beyers' 58 passing yards. “I was just glad I was able to get it to him,” Beyers said.

“Two guys were open, and when two guys are open, sometimes you try to get too fine. I was just glad I was able to complete the pass.”

“They were rolling up their corners, daring us to throw deep,” said Dickinson. “We have guys who can catch the ball down there.”

In the first quarter, Beyers put the ball toward Tovar, and two Templeton defenders slammed into Tovar. Trouble was, Tovar didn't have the ball. Beyers did, and he ran untouched into the end zone.

Beyers took the snap in the fourth quarter, took off to the right and none of the Eagles could come near him.

The Panthers' offensive line helped make Pioneer Valley's big win possible by carving holes in the first half that the unit couldn't in the first. The Panthers wound up running for 239 yards.

A lot of those yards came behind center Cody Adams, right guard Kyle Muldoon and right tackle Tyler Vogt. However, Teniente, Terry Keath and tight end Justin Lodes blocked well over the left side.

“The line did awesome tonight,” Beyers said. “Make sure that gets in the paper.”

The Eagles kept trying to pick on the 5-6 Rucobo with deep passes to 6-2 Jake Romanelli. It didn't work. Rucobo kept leaping and knocking the ball away.

“That's been going on all year,” Rucobo said of teams trying to throw over him.

“That 6-2 guy is probably the shortest he's gone against all year,” Beyers said wryly.

“Steve did a great job,” said Righetti coach Greg Dickinson. “Romanelli's a very good player. That's a good team, a tough opponent.”

On the first series of the game, the Panthers drove smartly down the field, covering 57 yards on 10 plays, with Beyers covering the last three. All but a timely 11-yard pass completion came on the ground.

“That first drive was textbook,” said Dickinson.

The Eagles defense shook that off, and lineman Andrew Hall led the charge as the unit denied the Panthers' offense during the rest of the half.

The Eagles are a good rushing team, but the Panthers held them to a grand total of 50 yards on the ground. Defensive back Zev Olvera nailed Romanelli, the Eagles' leading rusher this season, twice for 3-yard losses on first down. Romanelli wound up with six carries and no yards.

“We have 22 seniors, and I'm just so proud of these kids for how far they've come since they were freshmen.,” said Dickinson.

Oct. 28, 2006