JASON SHELLEY makes a leaping catch for the Panthers in front of Maria Carrillo defensive back Henok Tewolde. (photo by Sam Harick)

Down 21-3 midway through the second quarter and making every mistake imaginable, it looked for a moment like Benicia High’s varsity football team was going to get blown out by host Maria Carrillo on Friday night. Turns out it was Maria Carrillo that got blown out after the Panthers exploded in the second half.

Benicia outscored the Pumas 35-0 after halftime and rolled off 48 of the game’s final 55 points en route to a stunning 51-28 victory in Santa Rosa. It was the most points for the Panthers since hanging 54 on Vallejo last October and was Benicia’s first victory of the season.

“It was nice to see us clicking,” said Benicia head coach Craig Holden. “We sucked it up and played some really good football in the second half. We were making plays and holding on to the ball.”

The Panthers couldn’t hold on to the ball at all in the first half. Benicia fumbled away the opening kickoff, which led to a 24-yard touchdown pass from Maria Carrillo quarterback Jake Wolski to Westley Picard on a third-and-11 play. Benicia fumbled the ball away again two plays latter, and quarterback Riley Pitkin (back from a concussion) threw a pair of interceptions on back-to-back drives.

When Maria Carrillo’s Cole Marin returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown and added a 99-yard kickoff return for a TD, the Panthers already looked defeated midway through the second quarter. Jason Shelley sparked Benicia with an 87-yard kickoff return for a TD and then leapt for a 36-yard TD pass to bring Benicia to within 21-16. But Wolski answered with two big completions, the last a leaping reception by Fhestus Chomba over Shelley to give Maria Carrillo a 28-16 lead at the break.

“Anything that could go wrong did go wrong,” Holden said. “It was a horrific first half, probably the worst first half in my 15 years of coaching. But we gave a gut check at halftime and answered the bell.”

“It was really frustrating,” Shelley said. “We knew we were better than that so we came out at halftime and manned up. We stopped making mistakes and just crushed them.”

After the Pumas punted on their opening possession of the second half, Benicia (1-2) marched 77 yards in eight plays ending with a 28-yard touchdown run by Alex Osterholt to make it 28-23. Benicia linebacker Shevvy Franklin recovered a fumble at the Maria Carrillo 39-yard line, and Cavon Etter needed only one play to slip through a hole and race for the go-ahead touchdown with 4:31 left in the third quarter.

The Pumas (1-2) drove all the way to the Benicia 6-yard line on their next possession, but on fourth-and-3, linebacker Kyle Hanson-Regalado nailed running back Josh Grosbeck for a 3-yard loss to maintain Benicia’s lead.

“When we took the lead and then stopped them, that changed the momentum,” Holden said.

Osterholt began the blowout when he weaved his way through the middle of Maria Carrillo’s line and raced 79 yards for a touchdown to make it 37-28 with 8:50 remaining. Etter scored from two yards out for his second touchdown of the night and Devin Holden put things away with an 85-yard interception return for a TD with 3:17 left.

Osterholt and Etter combined for 266 yards rushing and four touchdowns on only 21 carries. Shelley caught seven balls for 107 yards, Ryan Blakeman forced a fumble that set up a Benicia score, and Kyle Sinclair booted a 32-yard field goal.

“We have the ability to be a good football team, but we can’t be so generous,” Holden said. “We know we can score and stop teams,” Shelley added. “We’re pretty good.”

The Panthers come back home to Drolette Stadium this Friday to take on the Armijo Indians.

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