BENICIA HIGH’S varsity football team whipped Fairfield on Friday, 54-8, and captured its third straight SCAC co-championship.

Benicia High’s varsity football team grabbed a share of another Solano County Athletic Conference championship and stamped a ticket to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs with a dominating 54-8 victory over host Fairfield on Friday.

The Panthers (6-4) finished 4-1 in SCAC play, sharing a three-way co-championship with Vanden and American Canyon for a second straight season. It’s the third straight league championship for the Panthers, the first time Benicia has done that since 1948-50.

Benicia technically finished in second place behind American Canyon for playoff seeding, but that was good enough for an automatic bid to the playoffs beginning Thursday. The victory capped a remarkable turnaround for a Panthers team that started the season 2-4 and got pummeled by American Canyon, 63-21, in the SCAC opener.

“Everyone counted us out when we were 2-4 but we battled back and won a league championship for a third time,” said Benicia quarterback Devin Holden. “It feels nice.”

“It’s a big turnaround from how we started our season,” said Benicia senior Shevvy Franklin. “We started clicking and coming together and it feels great. We never gave up hope. It took us knowing we couldn’t lose if we wanted to make the playoffs, so we had to get it together and play uphill every week.”

“We have team chemistry now,” said senior Cavon Etter. “We were lacking that for the first six games and we’re just now pulling it together. We’re communicating on the field and working as one unit.”

The Panthers had their Shevvy revved up and firing on all cylinders. Franklin rushed for 211 yards and two touchdowns, becoming Benicia’s first 200-yard rusher since Austin Carr ran for 290 against Vanden on Oct. 28, 2011. Franklin’s 56-yard run late in the second half – setting up his own short TD run – was more than Fairfield’s total offense (60 yards rushing, minus-8 passing).

It was Senior Night in Fairfield (2-8, 1-4 SCAC), so Benicia made sure its own seniors went out with a bang. Etter caught a 38-yard TD pass on Benicia’s first possession and added a 15-yard TD run on the opening possession of the second half. Xavier Judkins had three receptions on a four-play scoring drive ending in his leaping 20-yard TD catch over a defender in the back corner of the end zone. Mario Ferreria’s first rushing attempt of the season went for a 3-yard touchdown. Kyani McFall scored his first rushing TD of the season, and senior defensive tackle Alan Carino Trejo lined up in the backfield and bulled his way three yards for his first career rushing touchdown.

Benicia’s defense was just as dominant. The Falcons didn’t get a first down until the final minute of the opening half when Benicia was in a prevent defense. Fairfield completed two passes all night – one to a Falcons receiver for an 8-yard loss and another to Etter for an interception. Fairfield’s only touchdown of the night came when Alex Arredondo returned a kickoff 90 yards. Other than that, the Falcons went nowhere, and the fourth quarter was played under a running clock.

Franklin rushed for 160 yards in the first half alone and only carried the ball four times in the second half. Holden completed eight of his first 10 passes and finished 9-of-14 for 158 yards and two touchdowns. The Panthers amassed a season-high 534 total yards and 22 first downs.

“We just started clicking,” Holden said of a rejuvenated offense. “We shaped up and became a team. Our line is holding up, our receivers are working out – everything is working out.”

As a reward for winning a third straight SCAC co-championship, the Panthers will likely get a long road trip to face a high seed in the opening round of the SJS playoffs. Road trips are nothing new to the Panthers – who haven’t played a home game all season – and they know their next opponent will likely play at a much higher level.

“We can take it up a lot more notches,” Etter said.

“We just have to crank it up in practice,” Holden said. “We’re happy, but Monday it’s back to work.”

Benicia head coach Craig Holden did his best to avoid a cold Gatorade shower but succumbed after congratulating his Panthers for winning four straight must-win games.

“They proved who they were,” Holden said of Benicia’s battle back from a 2-4 start. “They went through the gauntlet and came out the other end.”

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