BENICIA RUNNING back Cavon Etter (7) has nowhere to go as Granada’s Tai Phan (23) moves in for a tackle.

This wasn’t the start to the season Benicia High’s varsity football team was hoping for.

The Panthers dug themselves a huge hole and never fully recovered in a 48-20 loss to the Granada Matadors in Livermore on Friday. Benicia fell behind 34-7 midway through the third quarter, pulled to within 34-20 early in the fourth but saw Granada score two late touchdowns to put the game away.

Benicia’s offense managed minus-2 yards rushing in the first half and ran for only 18 yards on 18 carries overall. The Panthers had only two first downs in the opening half and had a total of 55 yards going into the break.

“They did a good job stopping our run,” said Benicia head coach Craig Holden. “We couldn’t run the ball and that put us in a bad position. (Granada) controlled the line for most of the first half and we were third-and-long a lot.”

We had miscommunication all over the field,” said Benicia senior Cavon Etter. “I think it was just first-game jitters.”

Granada (1-0) opened the game with a 10-play, 72-yard drive ending in a 12-yard TD run by Tai Phan. Benicia’s Matthew Larks responded by taking the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, finding a hole up the middle before outracing the Matador defense down the left sideline.

“My mindset going in was to change the game and help my team out with a big play on special teams,” Larks said. “I just saw a hole and saw I only had one person to beat. I just gave him a quick little cut move and took off.”

That was Benicia’s only offensive highlight in the first half. With their running game all but non-existent, quarterback Devin Holden was forced to make something happen and ended up completing only 4-of-14 passes for 57 yards with two interceptions before the break.

The Matadors led 21-7 when the Panthers were forced to punt from their own 3-yard line with just over two minutes remaining before halftime. Granada’s Jordan Mello blocked Cody King’s punt and Phan recovered in the end zone for a touchdown and a 28-7 lead.

“That was rough,” coach Holden said. “We had a chance to go into halftime down only two scores and instead it’s 28-7.”

Granada went 51 yards in eight plays on its first possession of the second half, with quarterback Jason Frost running for a 2-yard TD and a 34-7 lead. Benicia (0-1) tried to make a comeback. Etter caught a short pass from Holden, slipped a tackle at the Granada 40 and raced 71 yards for a touchdown. Holden added a 1-yard sneak on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut Granada’s lead to 34-20.

Granada faced a third-and-17 on its next series but Frost found Andrew Preece wide open for a 33-yard gain and a first down. Frost later ran for a 9-yard TD and Will Mohler added a 58-yard TD run to put the Panthers away for good.

Foster had a great all-around night for the Matadors, rushing for a team-high 100 yards while completing 8-of-13 passes for 143 yards. Granada out-rushed Benicia 360-18 and had 18 first downs to only seven for the Panthers.

Despite the loss, the Panthers are already looking forward to this Friday night’s game at Pinole Valley.

“I still like our team,” coach Holden said. “We have to do a better job overall but I don’t think we’re that far away. We’ll get there.”

“We just need to gel a little bit more,” Larks added. “I don’t think we’re as bad off as it seems. We have a lot to improve on, but there were also positives.”

Sharing is caring!