TEAM CAPTAINS (from left) Devin Holden, Xavier Judkins, Hunter Whitson and Cavon Etter hope to keep Benicia’s momentum going when the Panthers take on Maria Carrillo.

Benicia High’s varsity football team will try to build on last week’s shutout victory over Pinole Valley when the Panthers take on the Maria Carrillo Pumas on Friday night in Santa Rosa.

The Panthers (1-1) played a defensive gem in last week’s 14-0 win over the Spartans and registered their first shutout since Oct. 10, 2014. Benicia held Pinole Valley to only 140 yards of total offense and sacked the Spartans five times.

Even more impressive was the way the Panthers shut down Spartans running back Sam Nuss, who ran for 262 yards and three touchdowns a week earlier against College Park but was held to only 58 yards on 21 carries last week. Twenty of those yards came with less than a minute to play.

“We definitely looked better than the week before,” said Benicia head coach Craig Holden. “It was good to get the taste of that season-opening loss out of our mouth. Beating a good team in the fashion we did was good for us.”

Benicia’s defense got big plays from Jalen Lane and Trae Crummie, who spent a lot of time in Pinole Valley’s backfield. Matthew Larks intercepted a pass and Joseph Lee recovered a fumble.

“We just did stuff right,” Holden said. “We made tackles when we were in position to make tackles and were lined up correctly. We’re a relatively young team and a lot of our starters on defense are learning on the fly.”

Benicia also got its running game going. After rushing for only 18 yards in a season-opening loss to Granada, the Panthers ran for 280 yards on 42 carries against the Spartans. Jeremiah Lane led the way with 102 yards on only 12 carries, including a 48-yard touchdown run that gave Benicia a 14-0 lead midway through the third quarter. Cavon Etter added another 91 yards on the ground, including a 15-yard TD run.

“We’re starting to click,” Holden said. “Our blocking assignments were better and we were able to understand things better. As we go forward, I think we’ll get even better.”

The only part of Benicia’s game that hasn’t clicked is the passing attack. The Panthers have completed only 33 percent of their passes through the first two games, though they attempted only one pass in the second half against Pinole Valley. Senior Devin Holden is still trying to get comfortable in his new starting role and the receivers have had a hard time hauling in passes. Benicia will again be without senior receiver Mario Ferreira, who missed last week’s game with a shoulder injury and isn’t expected back until next week’s game at Armijo.

“We haven’t got the balance yet and we need to find that over the next couple of games,” coach Holden said. “Our passing game hasn’t clicked yet and we’re focusing on that in practice this week. I think it will come around. We have confidence that our athletes can make plays and get things moving in the right direction.”

Maria Carrillo (0-2) has been moving in the wrong direction so far this season. The Pumas were blown out in their season opener, losing 40-14 at Analy. Last week in their home opener, the Pumas had a 21-3 lead against Redwood, only to get outscored 39-0 the rest of the way.

“They’ve played two really tough teams,” Holden noted. “They’re still a very athletic team with a good quarterback and good running backs. It’ll definitely be a challenge. Every time we play them it always seems to be a dogfight.”

When Benicia and Maria Carrillo met last year in Santa Rosa, the Pumas had a 28-16 lead at halftime before the Panthers scored 35 unanswered points in the second half en route to a 51-28 victory.

“We can’t rely on that happening again,” Holden said. “We have to get off to a better start because Maria Carrillo will be hungry to get a win.”

Friday’s game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.

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