Mike Pascoe couldn’t have asked for a better way to begin his second career start.

Panther Valley’s sophomore quarterback directed a punishing seven-play, 67-yard drive last Friday against Marian.

The march resulted in a tone-setting touchdown for the Panthers en route to a 28-7 victory over the Colts.

Pascoe’s urgency played a key role in pushing Panther Valley to its first win of the season.

“The game plan was to come out and score right away, and get on them early,” Pascoe said. “We knew we had to play hard; they’re not a bad team at all. We just played better that game.”

And Pascoe was at the center of most of it, carrying the ball 17 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns, an effort hat helped him earn Times News Player of the Week honors.

“Mike’s a very mature, responsible kid for someone that’s only a sophomore,” said Panthers’ head coach Rick Jones. “He has a great grasp of things; he knows what everybody is supposed to be doing.

“He’s a perfect fit for the kind of offense that we want to run, and he’s obviously a big, strong back to run the football as well.”

Pascoe was the leading rusher for Panther Valley, which piled up 201 of its 214 yards of offense on the ground. Louie Clouser complemented Clouser on the ground, carrying the ball five times for 75 yards and adding a touchdown as the Panthers’ linemen gave them plenty of room to run.

“This is a great award to win as a team,” Pascoe said of the Player of the Week honors. “I couldn’t have done it without the help of my teammates, with our line blocking well, getting off the ball quick, and our wide receivers and running backs helping with lead blocking.

“Everything worked out great.”

That opening possession included six running plays before PV punched it in from one-yard out. The Panthers’ next drive - which covered eight plays in 51 yards - ended with another rushing score to make it 12-0.

“Any time you can get some positives early in the game it helps,” said Jones. “But our goal was just to go out and compete, play as hard as we can, focus on the things that we can take care of, and I think we’re getting better and better at that.

“We still have a lot of work ahead of us. We have some tough games down the road, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The win was also a nice bounce-back performance after a 40-12 loss to Lehighton in the season opener.

“It’s always nice to have a win anytime, but especially early in the year,” said Jones. “Against Marian, it makes it special for the kids I’m sure. I just look at it as one game to another game.

“I thought we did a lot of things well and some things not so well. ... But there was a lot of good to take out of it, but we have a lot of work ahead of us as well.”

Pascoe praised the team’s ability to come together and work well as a unit, something he’s hoping will lead to more success in the future.

“I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” said Pascoe. “We’re all really coming together, our line’s starting to pick up on their assignments, our receivers are starting to pick up on stuff, and everything is starting to click.

“It feels great, because now we’re starting to kick it into overdrive with our offense. Everything is starting to come into place, and we’re ready to go for next week.”

Panther Valley hosts Schuylkill Haven (0-2) this Friday and will look to make it back-to-back victories.

“Everyone is working hard,” said Pascoe. “Our JV team is helping giving us looks (in practice), our varsity team is coming to play during practices. We’re all just here to work hard.”