Panthers’ victory over Eureka extends win streak to 10

The Pahranagat Valley High School football team improved to 3-0 with a 34-12 win over the Vandals in Eureka on Friday, Aug. 28. That stretches the Panther win streak to 10 spanning back to last year’s run to the 1A State Championship. 

PVHS junior Bronson Fiatoa broke off a 52-yard touchdown run to open the scoring for the Panthers in the first quarter. The game started to get out of hand late in the second quarter. After Eureka scored to cut the deficit to 14-12, PVHS answered immediately by returning the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown. Dean Benson nearly returned the favor for Eureka, but stepped out of bounds on his way to the end zone.

Eureka did get a good drive going on its next possession, but a fumble put an end to that, and PVHS capitalized on the turnover. Fiatoa hit Rex Marshall with an 8-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal to extend the Panthers’ lead to 28-12 with about a minute remaining in the half. The Vandals had a good thing going again thanks to a big pass play from Hank Mentaberry to Cody Bice that moved Eureka deep into Pahranagat territory, but the drive ended with an interception. 

“Alamo is the defending state champion for a reason, and against a quality team like that, we cannot afford to give away extra possessions or allow big plays,” said Vandals head coach Fred Minoletti. “So we need to work on improving discipline on defense and ball security on offense.” 

“Lance Back and Rex Marshall both had a pretty good game,” PVHS head coach Brett Hansen commented. “We knew Eureka was going to be tough. They always are physical, disciplined and well coached. It’s still early, so we still have a lot of things to work on and get better at, but I was pleased overall with how we played.”

Next up for the Panthers is a home game against Williams (Ariz.) at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 12.