The Chico High Panthers will be competing for the Northern Section Division II title for the third straight year after defeating the No. 4 seeded Foothill Cougars, 46-7 on Friday night.
No one is more excited than star wide receiver Abe Del Real, who has carried the No. 1 seeded Panthers’ (10-1) offense this season accounting for 30 receptions, 790 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Del Real had high praise for junior year quarterback Jake Hamman. He played his first playoff game and had no fear when he stepped on the field.
“Hats off to Jake once again,” Del Real said. “He has been flawless for us every week. He is really putting in the work and it is showing.”
Hamman went 14-16 for 183 yards and three touchdowns. “I just treated it like any other game,” Hamman said of his approach to this week’s game. “I knew I had a lot of targets on both sides and we have a good running game, so I knew I would be ok.”
Willy Baker noticed a lot of the attention going to Del Real and was able to score two receiving touchdowns.
“It frees me up a lot and it frees up other players as well,” Baker said of Del Real getting special treatment.
This was the second time the Panthers took down the Cougars (6-6) this season. Their last matchup, Cougars’ quarterback Brandon Merryman accounted for over 200 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Tonight, the Panthers had Merryman’s number and forced him to throw three interceptions.
“Hats off to the defense,” said head coach Jason Alvistur. “The matchup was athlete on athlete tonight. If you try to shut down one of our players, the next guy will pick up his slack and that came through tonight.”
Despite the record, Tyler Carry has been a true Swiss Army knife for the Cougars. He came into tonight accounting for 13 carries for 225 yards and one touchdown while hauling in 48 receptions for 1062 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Jalen Johnson added two rushing touchdowns to his senior year. The 5-foot 6-inch running back had the biggest play of the game with a 62-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter.
The Chico High Panthers will get a rematch off last year’s Division II title game. The Pleasant Valley Knights took the Panthers down 20-17 for the championship last year. Kickoff for the championship will begin at 7 p.m. Nov. 30 at Chico High.
This Panthers have been to the Division II championship game the past three years, but have not been able to finish and bring home the trophy.
“Our kids are hungry. As we went through the season and got better, these kids see it and want it. It’s up to them now,” Alvistur said.
