There were times when Panther Valley could taste victory. It just couldn’t get over the hump.

In their regular season finale, the Panthers played like they belonged.

And they did for the majority of Friday’s contest against Minersville. But the pass-happy Miners used a 30-yard field goal off the foot of John Adams with 6:31 to play to make the difference in a 26-23 victory over Panther Valley.

What Minersville quarterback Scott Schwalm excelled at was heaving the ball, accounting for 311 of the team’s yards in the passing department in addition to rushing for 56 of his squad’s 68 yards.

But it came down to the foot of Adams, who had no issues clearing the 30 yards for the game-winner with plenty of room to spare to enable the Miners (5-5; 3-2)to keep their faint hopes flickering for a possible postseason Eastern Conference playoff spot.

Panther Valley (2-8, 2-4) took solace and hope down the road as first-year coach Rick Jones has the program pointed in the right direction.

“We still make too many mistakes,” Jones said. “I hated to see us lose this way for our seniors… it would have been nice to go out with a win, but…”

Minersville’s basketball on grass approach, with its offense, quickly seized the lead, passing its way down the field and using a 29-yard run from Schwalm and 4-yard gallop to the end zone Noah Woodward before posting a two-point conversion try on a Schwalm to Jared Graeff pass for an 8-0 lead.

“I played for coach Jones, and you know you are never safe with a lead against his teams,” said Minersville head coach Justin Frantz. “They play right up until the game is over. That’s the way he coaches.”

PV quickly answered, driving for the equalizer, using a 10-play drive to go 81 yards, with senior Shawn Hoben skirting the final six yards on his lone carry of the evening, and Louis Clouser converting the two-point try.

Minersville took a 15-8 lead with 11:54 to go in the half when Schwalm launched a 31-yard scoring strike to Ryan Andruchek, who caught seven passes for 113 yards to lead his team in receiving, and Adams booted the PAT to go on top at the half.

However, the Panthers still had a lot of growl and got back into the game, going on top 16-15 to open the second half on a scintillating 60-yard run by Elias Tavares. Tavares also added the two-point conversion.

The Miners returned the lightning strike with a four-play drive, featuring a 28-yard completion to Gabe Davis, a 50-yard bomb to Andruchek and a 15-yard scoring strike to Graeff for a 23-16 lead.

But the Panthers came back with another big play, this time senior Eric Moyer zooming 65 yards to paydirt on the ensuing kickoff. Blake Morgans’ PAT kick tied it at 23-23.

That set the stage for Minersville to march 12 plays, going 79 yards and turning to Adams to boot the game winner. Though Panther Valley looked very fortuitous on the following series, reaching the Miners’ 22-yard line, thanks to a fumble recovery by freshman lineman Josh Shelton for a huge first down. Unfortunately, things fizzled thereafter, and the Panthers couldn’t make headway before the drive stalled at the 36, ending the huge upset bid.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

… PV saw 11 seniors play their final game; Sean Hetterick, Ben Sheridan, Ethan Reis, Gavin Garcia, Mark Hrebik, Blake White, Alex Romanko, Tavares, Moyer, Hoben and Morgans.

MILESTONE

… Minersville’s Schwalm passed for over 3,000 yards in his career, ending the season with 2,243 yards and 21 TDs.