SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Schuylkill Haven picked up another piece of hardware for its already crowded football trophy case Friday when it banged out a 61-7 victory over an out-manned, but not out-hustled Panther Valley football team.

Once again, the Hurricanes (5-4, 5-0) unleashed their tremendous All-State running back Kobe Brish, who blazed his way for 270 yards rushing. Brish also scored five touchdowns on runs of 3, 24, 13, 30 and 53 yards.

The victory by Haven capped another undefeated 5-0 run through Division 2 of the Schuylkill Football League. This marks four straight years of winning the divisional crown for the Hurricanes, who are on a 20-0 run in the league’s small school division during that time frame.

“To be honest, I thought (Haven coach) Mike Farr took it easy on us,” said Panther Valley head coach Ricky Jones, who was greeted with a happy birthday wish from his team after the loss.

“We’re getting better, but we faced a stronger and more physical team than us,” continued Jones, who seems to have turned the football culture into a positive note despite having a 2-7 record. Jones and the Panthers will close the season next Friday hoping for a victory at home against Jones’ former team — Minersville.

When Panther Valley (2-7, 2-2) quarterback Ethan Reis uncorked a 75-yard scoring strike to speedy senior wide receiver Blake White, that impressed Farr, who called the Panthers “A bunch of tough, gritty kids who hung in there and never quit.”

The Reis-to-White score came at the onset of the second quarter cutting the deficit to 21-7.

“We’re still learning,” said Jones. “We can build on some things. We had an answer but they’re just a more physical football team right now than us. But we’re getting there.”

The killer for the Panthers was their inability to run effectively. They rushed for just 29 yards on 27 carries.

Haven had two scores in the first 12 minutes — both on runs by Brish.

When PV tried picking up a yard on a fourth-down play at its own 47, the ‘Canes stuffed the quarterback sneak, then seized a 21-0 lead on a Brish 13-yard gallop.

The Panthers came right back with Reis connecting with White. But before they could catch a breath of air, the ‘Canes came right back with an answer of their own when Caleb Riegel zoomed 26-yards to paydirt that made it 27-7 at halftime.

After that, the Hurricanes were starting to coast to the finish line hitting the scoreboard on their first four possessions of the second half.

Brish had two of the TDs, Riegel took off on a 59-yard score, and Steven Balulis and Connor Goehring reached the end zone in mop roles on runs of 58 and 34 yards respectively.

GASHED … Brish has now rushed for 7,297 yards, second to Zach Barkett — who has the all-time mark at Haven of 8,325 yards. Brish needs six more touchdowns to tie Barkett’s 113 career scores.

SOLID EFFORTS … Panthers are getting closer to turning the corner. Though they failed to rush for big yards the signs are positive. If PV can find a way to upset Minersville Friday it will be a booster shot for the program.