WILLIAMSTOWN – Panther Valley came very close to turning the corner Friday evening.

Forget about the 49-20 final score in Williams Valley’s favor.

The Panthers looked alive and well until the Vikings used their speed and athletic ability in the passing game to finally pull away.

That’s the area where Panther Valley is still a day late and a dollar short, but the way Panther coach Rick Jones sees it, things are ready to change for the good.

“We’re having some issues, but we have kids that want to be here,” Jones said. “We’re not quite there. We need to throw the ball a little bit better, but our quarterback (Mike Pascoe) is young and that will come around.

“We run the ball fairly well at times, but we just got to get better at throwing it.”

Surely that’s not an issue with the gifted Vikings who have school-record setters in their passing game.

Quarterback Bryce Herb, who was 12-for-20 for 319 yards and four touchdown passes, set the new standard for touchdown passes at Williams Valley. He now has tossed 54 in his career.

His favorite target Jesse Engle also starred in the victory with two touchdown receptions - the first 16 yards and the second a 52-yarder. He has the same record setting number only his is for TD receptions. His pair against the Panthers gave him 54 in his career, breaking the record of 52 previously held by his brother Levi Engle.

Where the Panthers were dinged early was with two lost fumbles and before they could come to life they were in a 28-0 second quarter hole.

The Herb-to-Engle act started things with a 16-yard score after Panther Valley lost the opening kickoff, giving the Vikings a short field.

Herb capped a 78-yard drive with a 17 yard run to paydirt to make it 14-0 and then tossed a 44-yard strike to the speedy Hunter Wolfgang to make it 21-0 in the second quarter. The fourth Vikings’ TD came with 6:30 left before intermission when Engle broke free in the secondary and Herb lofted a 50-yard strike to his favorite receiver.

Panther Valley finally found some offense and counterpunched with two quick strikes of its own. The first was a 1-yard plunge by Pascoe to end a 55-yard drive - one that featured a sizzling run by Louis Clauser.

The Panthers struck gold again late in the half. After recovering a fumble, PV turned to a running game and marched 36 yards to the end zone with Clauser scooting the final three yards with just :04 left to make it 28-12.

“Clauser’s a stud,”: Jones said. “He gets into open space and he can turn it on. That late touchdown was big for us. We showed a lot of toughness and a will to win. We came up short, but we’re getting a lot better.”

The Vikings ended any hopes Panther Valley had of a comeback early in the third quarter as Herb tossed touchdown passes to Herman and Engle as the lead grew to 42-12. Before the third quarter was over, the Vikings’ Willard picked off a pass and bolted 40 yards to the end zone making it 49-12.

Panther Valley set sail with an impressive 65-yard touchdown march that began with Clauser jetting 35 yards, and was culminated by a 4-yard run from Gage Breiner. Reserve quarterback Mergim Bushati flung the 2-point PAT score to Logan Haines to set the final numbers.

QUICK AND TALENTED … Williams Valley has a speed to burn. It also has outside receivers that run excellent pass routes.

GETTING BETTER … Jones pointed out his team needs to find wide outs to make the passing game work. One area that the team is getting big plays is the running game.

UP FRONT AND STRONG … The Panthers’ Austin Hadley is going to get his share of looks over the next two seasons. He’s a sophomore at 6-3, 222 and was a terror on defense. Senior guard Tony Perilli had a good night blocking in the trenches.