In sports, opportunity may knock only once and you might not know when you're going to get another chance.

That's the attitude that Panther Valley junior quarterback Matt Hudicka took into the Panthers' game against Shenanadoah Valley last Friday. Hudicka and teammate Ali Capobianco battled throughout preseason camp for the starting quarterback position with Capobianco narrowly winning the job. Hudicka, was of course disappointed, but kept working, kept grinding, and kept preparing.Then came Week Four of the season and, with Capobianco banged up, the keys of the Panthers' offense were handed over to Hudicka. Needless to say, he passed head coach Matt Davis' driving test with flying colors.The junior helped PV and coach Davis get their first win of the year, using both his arm (143 yards passing and a score) and his legs (rushing for 84 yards and two touchdowns). Hudicka's 227 total yards and three total touchdowns were good enough to earn Times News Player of the Week.As noted, Hudicka was undeniably disappointed he didn't win the starting job in camp, but he proved that a little adversity can help motivate and make a player even stronger in the long run."I was really excited to get my shot on Friday," said Hudicka. "I didn't win the job through camp, so I knew when I went out there I had to make some things happen. We didn't start out great, we actually went three and out on our first possession and that shrunk my confidence a bit. Fortunately, we started playing better and moving the ball. Once I started making positive plays I started to gain more confidence and I settled in."To say that Hudicka settled in would be an understatement. He was responsible for PV's first three scoring plays that resulted in a 20-0 lead over the Blue Devils. A 21-yard touchdown pass to Cee Keo, and two touchdown runs of five yards and one yard had the Panthers rolling. It might of been Hudicka's first start, but it was easy to see that this kid was chomping at the bit to lead the Panthers offense."After we scored that first touchdown my confidence went through the roof," said Hudicka. "I knew after that we were going to win the game. As a team right now, I think we have our confidence back and I'm going to do whatever I can do make sure we keep it."The decision to start Hudicka was an easy one. The Panthers were 0-3 and with Capobianco banged up Hudicka was the next man up, which is something coach Davis has been preaching to his young squad."When Matt (Hudicka) was given the opportunity to start this week he simply took advantage of it," said Davis. "When Ali (Capobianco) won the job, Matt was a great teammate and did whatever he could do to make us better. This is football and injuries happen and it seems every Friday night we've been getting some guys banged up, so our kids have to be ready. We've been preaching next man up, so the kid that's next on the depth chart is going in and they need to make the best of that opportunity, which is obviously what Matt did."Moving forward the Panthers seemed to have found the right recipe on the offensive side of the ball. It couldn't have come at a better time either with backyard rival Tamaqua hosting PV on Friday night."Matt came in and did a great job of jumpstarting our offense," said Davis. "Teams have been gearing up to stop our running back Rian Shubeck, so we needed to add another element to our offense and Matt did that by passing the ball very well against Shenandoah."