Pioneer Valley's defenders knew what was coming.

The Panthers were just powerless to stop it.

St. Joseph was perched on Pioneer Valley's 8 on third down early in the second quarter. It figured that Knights quarterback Gavin Kelly would go to 6'4” wide receiver Scott Cathcart, and he did. Cathcart simply reached up and hauled in the pass for his second touchdown.

Catchart touchdown number three came when he took Kelly's short pass, broke a tackle, got a downfield block from back Camron Sewell and then went in for a 51-yard touchdown. The Knights were on their way to a 28-14 win at St. Joseph's Al Maguire Field Friday night.

St. Joseph, which led 28-6 at halftime, went to 1-0, 3-1 by winning its Los Padres League opener.

The defending league champs have won three straight. Pioneer Valley is 1-1, 3-2. St. Joseph plays at Santa Maria at 7:30 p.m. Friday night. Pioneer Valley is at Nipomo the same night and time.

“Our line blocked good, we ran the ball good and (Kelly) did a good job getting the ball to me,” Cathcart said after his eight catch, 127-yard receiving night.

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Besides, “Our coaches really prepared us well for this game,” said Cathcart. “We had a good week of practice.”

Cathcart had 130 yards in receptions the first half as Pioneer Valley's (much) shorter secondary tried but simply couldn't match up with him.

Lineman Justin Buchan and linebacker Irvin Camacho helped the Panthers hold Knights season rushing leader Russell Perkins to 63 yards on 23 carries. The Cathcart Factor and good team defense pulled St. Joseph through, however.

The Panthers put 5'9” Andres Montiel on Cathcart after intermission. With the Knights mired deep in their own territory, Montiel denied Cathcart twice on Kelly passes. The Panthers surrounded Cathcart on his one second-half catch and dropped him for a three-yard loss.

“The story of the second half was field position,” said St. Joseph coach Mike Hartman. “We didn't have any.”

Lineman John Sua (eight tackles) and linebacker Ryan McKellar helped St. Joseph's defense take care of things, though. Pioneer Valley quarterback Peter Renteria threw for 201 yards, but Sua and McKellar led the surge as the Knights contained the Panthers' high-powered ground game.

Pioneer Valley backs Dan Ando and Philip Garcia both went over 100 yards last week. Garcia ran for 63 yards and Ando had 57 Friday night.

The Knights' defense has steadily improved. The unit shut out Bishop Diego last week. “We didn't really make any adjustments,” said Sua. “We've just played tougher. We've been The Shield. That's what we call our defense.”

St. Joseph stopped the Panthers inside the Knights 25 twice after intermission. Pioneer Valley came up dry on a 66-yard drive the first possession of the second half when defensive end Cathcart knocked down a swing pass on fourth down from the 4.

Vincent Brunello intercepted a pass in the end zone on second down from the Pioneer Valley 21 early in the fourth quarter. The Panthers finally broke through when Marcel Braddock finished off a 62-yard drive with a six-yard scoring run with 4:25 left.

Renteria made it in on a two-point conversion run just before Michael McNulty smashed him with a tackle. St. Joseph wide receiver Travis Biegel smothered the onside kick, and the outcome was sealed.

The Panthers never recovered from St. Joseph's fast start. Cathcart returned the opening kickoff 30 yards to the Knights 47. Kelly suckered the defense on a fake handoff on the first play, kept the ball and ran for 29 yards.

Kelly ran 13 yards three plays later for a score after faking the handoff again.

“Bishop Diego is good, but (Pioneer Valley's) much better,” Hartman said afterward. “They have a lot of good runners, Peter throws the ball downfield very well and (Diego) De Miranda, Steven Rucobo and Erik Silvas are very good receivers.

“I'm very proud of our boys. It took a real team effort to beat these guys.”

Here's part of that team effort Hartman was talking about. De Miranda caught a 25-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, and he plagued the Knights throughout the first half. Dominic Brunello knocked down some key passes intended for him in the second.

Sewell blocked an extra point and made some important pass breakups. He carried the ball three times - all for first downs behind good blocking as the Knights ran out the clock in the fourth quarter.

The Knights started Friday night what Hartman believes will be a tough LPL road. “It's a meat grinder of a league,” he said.

Sept. 29, 2007