The numbers didn’t interest Ethan Reis.

Not the touchdowns. Not the yards. Not the completion percentage.

The Panther Valley quarterback had other things in mind.

“I’m not really a stat guy,” said Reis. “I had a good game, but the rest of my team did as well. If it wasn’t for my offensive line being able to block upfront, who knows if those plays would have opened up for all of us.”

It was a team-effort that resulted in the Panthers’ 40-17 victory over Marian last Friday. And one that included a season-best performance from Reis, who threw for 152 yards and three scores with just two incompletions to earn Times News Player of the Week honors.

“I think he’s a good kid. He’s worked hard,” Panther Valley head coach Rick Jones said of Reis. “I think anytime you can have success like that, and the team can have success, it’s a great thing. We’re really happy for him, but we’re happy for the whole team, too.”

Reis hit Blake White for touchdowns of 55 and 27 yards in the second quarter, pushing the Panthers’ advantage to 21-10 at halftime. His final score was a 43-yard connection to Shawn Hoben in the fourth quarter that iced the game.

“I think the biggest thing is that we had some adversity early,” Jones said of his team’s 10-0 deficit after the first quarter, “and regrouped, went back out and played well enough the last three quarters to get a win.”

It’s the type of response that has helped Panther Valley win back-to-back games, outscoring opponents 75-23.

In a 35-6 victory over Shenandoah Valley in Week 6, it was the ground game that powered the Panthers (2-5), who rushed for 314 yards. Against Marian, Reis took the top off the defense, completing 7-of-9 passes – including five to White, who finished with 104 yards receiving.

That balanced attack resulted in 338 yards of total offense.

“We’re finding out what we do best,” Jones said. “Hopefully, we’re getting kids in the right positions with the right schemes. It’s still a learning process for all of us, but I think we’re headed in the right direction.”

Lou Clouser (160), Elias Tavares (159) and Eric Moyer (136) have all helped the offense average 250 yards rushing the past two weeks.

“It’s always give and take, seeing what the defense will give you. It’s just a variety of everything that is working for us right now,” said Reis “We’re starting to get our passing game going; we already had our run game going. Now, it’s just a matter of putting it all together.”

After taking over as Panther Valley’s starting quarterback during his sophomore season, Reis’s six touchdowns this year match a career high set in 2018. He currently has 455 yards passing after throwing for 864 last fall.

Reis is eager to build on those totals over the final three weeks of the regular season.

“I think we have a lot more momentum,” he said. “We’re coming into this week 2-0 the past two weeks. We played some really good teams (during the first half of the season), but now we’re coming into our division. I think those are winnable games for us.

“For us to rally back like we did against Marian after a win against Shenandoah, our confidence is a lot higher coming into this week.”

Panther Valley will try to win its third straight Friday against Mahanoy Area.

“We just have to stay together as a team,” said Reis. “We just have to come out there and play our best game. That’s all we can do.”