LOS MOLINOS, CA (MPG) – Looking to finish the regular season strong, the Panthers made their way to Los Molinos last Friday night to face the first-place Bulldogs, but despite holding a narrow lead at intermission and battling throughout, they ultimately fell 7-19 in a Mid-Valley League affair.
In facing Los Molinos, Maxwell had to contain the All-Time Northern Section leading rusher, Wyatt Gillett, who has averaged 240.8 yards per game this year, and for the first quarter and a half were able to do just that.
Although the Panther offense couldn’t get much going either, one of the highlights of that first period was an interception by Ian Lepe on a ball that had been batted in the air by Colt Montgomery, which thwarted the Bulldogs on a fourth and goal from the nine.
However, Los Molinos drew first blood midway through the second period when Gillett rumbled into the end zone from nine yards out, completing a 12-play drive that was kept alive due to a roughing the kicker penalty on the Panthers when the referee determined the punter was hit unnecessarily after getting the kick off despite the bobble.
After a missed extra point Maxwell was down six and had a chance of its own, but the opportunity went awry with a turnover inside the red zone at the eight.
Yet, the defense did its job for the remainder of the quarter, setting up a dramatic scoring drive with just 23 seconds remaining until the half.
Starting at their own 44 and seeing the first two passes of the series fall incomplete, Panther quarterback Vincent Orozco ripped off a 48-yard run on third down that placed the ball at the Bulldog eight with two ticks left on the clock.
Maxwell then capitalized on the ensuing play, when Orozco found Louis Minutti in the corner of the end zone, and after Minutti kicked the extra point, the Panthers took a 7-6 lead into intermission.
Still, the MVL champion Bulldogs were undeterred and on their first possession of the third quarter put together a 15-play drive to regain the lead 12-7.
With the Maxwell defense continuing to battle, the offense had a chance late in the fourth quarter to take the lead, but turned the ball over on downs, allowing Los Molinos to put the final points of the game on that board with a minute and a half left.
Overall, it was an effort that Coach Zach Urrutia chalked up to being the nature of the game as he explained, “We stalled out twice real close to the end zone and that changed the momentum big time for us. We game-planned for their running back and our defense held on as best they could, but that’s football. I think we sent a message tonight though, we are still a dangerous team and I wouldn’t want to play us in the playoffs.”
Orozco led the offense completing seven passes for 85 yards, then rushed 10 times for another 83, Lucas Bowen carried five times for 44 yards and made two catches for 27, while Minutti caught three balls for 47 yards.
Defensively, Bowen turned in an impressive effort finishing with 22 tackles, Landon Barrett collected 16 tackles and Montgomery finished with 12.
Maxwell (6-4, 3-3) commences postseason play on Nov. 13 as the No. 4 seed in the NSCIF Division V and hosts No. 5 Portola (4-6, 2-4) a team it defeated 36-14 last month.