The Pioneer Valley defensive unit's performance against the Nipomo Titans offense Friday night was, well, titanic.

The Panthers racked up their first shutout this season in beating the Titans 20-0 in a Los Padres League game on a chilly, windy evening at Pioneer Valley High School. The Panthers stayed unbeaten at 5-0-0 overall and ran their LPL record to 2-0. Nipomo is 0-2, 1-4-0.

Nipomo drove inside Pioneer Valley's 25 just twice. Linebacker Luis Martinez's six-yard sack of Titans quarterback Josh Correia ended the first drive. Defensive back Jesse Ibarra's recovery of Eric Penningroth's fumble in the Panthers end zone terminated the second. Martinez hit Penningroth hard, and Penningroth lost the ball.

Nipomo had 119 yards of total offense.

“Our defense made the plays,” said Pioneer Valley wide receiver Marcel Braddock. “Our offense was lacking, but our defense was there to pick us up.”

Braddock picked the Panthers' struggling offense up with a big play himself.

With Pioneer Valley clinging to a 7-0 lead, Braddock wrestled Nipomo defensive back Joe Ruiz for a Nick Rucobo pass. Braddock won, and the gain was 34 yards to the Titans six. Albert Squires, reaching and getting the ball over the goal line, scored from the four two plays later.

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“I guess wrestling for it was what it came down to,” Braddock said with a chuckle. “I had a good DB on me, and we both jumped for the ball. I just happened to win that one.”

Rucobo wrapped up the win for the Panthers when he swept around right end and scored from 18 yards out with 41.7 seconds left to play. Pioneer Valley's first score was set up when Nipomo punter Juan Hurtado fumbled the snap and had to fall on the ball at the Titans 10 in the second quarter. Dan Ando scored from two yards out two plays later.

The Panthers recovered a pair of Titans fumbles at Nipomo's 31 and 24 in the first quarter. The Titans thwarted the Panthers both times.

Harley Diaz and Dominik Cabralas stopped Ando for no gain at the 22 on fourth down after the first turnover. Angel Rendon dropped Ando for a two-yard loss on third down after the second quarter. Carlos Chavez's 30-yard field goal try missed.

“Give Nipomo credit - they've played pretty well defensively all year,” said Pioneer Valley coach Greg Dickinson.

“I'm not going to say we have a great kicking game, but it's not that bad. Getting no points after those two turnovers was kind of tough.”

Ando, who had 606 yards rushing going in, was out of the game at halftime after running for 48 yards on 13 carries. He had an ice pack on his ankle in the second half.

“We're going to get an x-ray to be on the safe side,” said Dickinson. If Ando has a high ankle sprain, “He may be out two or three weeks.

“Kevin Britt had a high ankle sprain for them last week, and he couldn't play tonight,” said Dickinson. Squires had a big night in Ando's place. He racked up 91 yards, on 15 carries.

Linebacker Nick Leyden was all over the field - again - and led the Panthers' surge as they blanked the Titans. Penningroth is the Titans' leading ball carrier this season. He had 51 yards on 20 carries Friday night.

“We knew he was a shifty back,” said Leyden. “We just had to hit the gaps hard and hold up.”

Dickinson said, “Our defense played their (butts) off.”

Regarding Ando's injury, Leyden said, “It's hard, he's a member of the team, but you just can't get down because of it. You have to pick it up and go on.”

Nipomo coach Russ Edwards liked what he saw from his defense. He also liked what he saw from some of Correia's passing.

“We were able to hit the long ball tonight, and we hadn't been able to do that before,” Edwards said. “I thought we matured a lot as a football team tonight. Three turnovers are just tough to overcome.”

Correia was eight-for-13 for 73 yards. He did not throw an interception. The junior first-year varsity quarterback connected on throws of 27 yards to Penningroth and 18 yards to Cameron Epley.

The Panthers were lucky to escape their lone turnover undamaged. Diaz intercepted Rucobo's pass at Pioneer Valley's 32 in the second quarter. He might have scored, but he slipped and fell.

The game was often sloppy. Pioneer Valley fumbled three times but lost none of those. The Panthers were penalized eight times, for 75 yards. Nipomo was penalized eight times too, for 65 yards.

Oct. 11, 2008