MAHANOY CITY — With its offense struggling to get into the end zone, Panther Valley needed a spark.

The defense provided just what the Panthers needed.

Fourth-quarter interceptions from Gavin Yurichek and Ben Baneravage led to touchdowns as Panther Valley was finally able to put away Mahanoy Area 20-0 in a Schuylkill-Colonial League Blue Division game Friday night at Coach Faz Field at Alumni Stadium.

Yurichek’s pick led to a 50-yard touchdown run by quarterback Brody Breiner on the first play following the interception to make it 14-0 after the two-point conversion run by Marco Tessitore.

Baneravage picked off a pass on the Golden Bears’ next possession. Three plays later, Breiner hooked up with Yurichek from 38 yards out to set the final.

Panther Valley (4-5, 4-4 Blue) had 413 yards of total offense on the night and scored on its first offensive possession on a 1-yard run by Carson Jones. But mistake after mistake kept the Panthers out of the end zone until they turned the turnovers into points.

“Our defense showed up all night long,” Panthers coach Mark Lavine said. “We tackled well. We didn’t give up a lot of yards after contact. We had the two interceptions, which were huge. We have a lot of knockdowns this year, but not a lot of interceptions, so to get those two picks was huge. That also sparks a lot on the sideline and gets the offense going as well.”

The win cliched a District 11 Class 3A playoff spot for Panther Valley.

Breiner had another huge game for the Panthers. He ran for 131 yards on 14 carries, while completing 17-of-21 passes for 240 yards. Breiner completed passes to five different receivers. Chase McArdle caught six of those balls for 81 yards, while Baneravage had four catches for 61 yards.

Panther Valley’s defense held Mahanoy Area (1-8, 1-7) to 105 yards of offense. The main focus was stopping Golden Bears’ running back Kyler Quick, who came into the night with 530 yards rushing on the season.

The Panthers’ front seven of Jasaad Smith, Carlos Rosa Maldonado, Marcus Rodriguez, Brody Vermillion, Peter Kruslicky, Jones and Tessitore clogged up the middle as Quick was held to 45 yards on the night. His longest run was 19 yards in the second quarter.

“The whole thing was stopping Quick,” Lavine said. “He runs hard. He’s a physical kid. He breaks tackles. We had to stop him. Their whole offense goes through him.”

Tessitore got rewarded for his hard work as he ran in the two-point conversion from the wildcat formation following the Panthers’ second touchdown.

“Last year he tore his ACL on the ninth play of the season,” Lavine said. “He played all season for us. He could have packed it in and said I am done and got the surgery. He played all season for us on one knee, in and out of games. That was something to kind of reward him, a kid who had been with us all four years.”

Despite giving up yards, Mahanoy Area’s defense kept the game close, turning away Panther Valley three times inside the Golden Bears’ 20-yard line.

Breiner had a 4-yard touchdown run wiped out by a holding penalty on the Panthers’ second possession of the game. Three consecutive incompletions ended the drive early in the second quarter.

Panther Valley reached the Mahanoy Area 15 on its next possession but Breiner was sacked on a fourth-and-7 play, ending the drive.

Early in the third quarter a 30-yard completion from Breiner to McArdle appeared to put the ball at the 10. But the ball came loose after the catch and Mahanoy Area’s Caden Ketchledge picked it up and ran to the Golden Bears’ 48. That drive ended in a punt.

The four wins this season are the most for Panther Valley since 2009. The Panthers will attempt to finish the regular season at .500 next Friday at Minersville.

“We are starting to learn how to do things the right way,” Lavine said. “It’s not a quick process. This is our fourth year since we took over. We are doing some things well and we have to start trying to compete with the big boys now. That has to be our next step, to complete against the better teams.”

Panther Vy. 20, Mahanoy 0

Panther Vy. 6 0 0 14 - 20

Mahanoy 0 0 0 0 - 0

PV - Jones 1 run (Kick failed)

PV - Breiner 50 run (Tessitore run)

PV - Yurichek 38 pass from Breiner (Kick failed)