BENICIA QUARTERBACK Riley Pitkin (right) sits with trainer Scott Corbin after suffering a mild concussion against Concord last week. Pitkin is out for Friday’s home game against McClymonds.

After coming up two yards short of an upset victory against Concord in last week’s season opener, Benicia High’s varsity football team will try again for an upset when the Panthers host the McClymonds Warriors on Friday at Drolette Stadium.

Benicia (0-1) missed a 2-point conversion with 20 seconds remaining and lost 14-13 to the Minutemen, who are ranked No. 10 in the East Bay. Concord beat Benicia by 35 points a season earlier but barely escaped with a win in last Friday’s rematch.

“We had a chance to win it but unfortunately came out on the short end of the stick,” said Benicia head coach Craig Holden. “But we competed for four quarters and put ourselves in a position to beat a really good Concord team.”

Benicia senior quarterback Riley Pitkin suffered a mild concussion midway through the fourth quarter against Concord and must sit out Friday’s game against powerful McClymonds, a team that didn’t lose a game on the field all of last year. Starting in Pitkin’s place is junior Devin Holden, who led Benicia on its final scoring drive and nearly pulled off the upset.

“That’s why you have a backup quarterback,” coach Holden said. “He’s an athlete and will do the best job he can. He knows the offense so we expect things to be business as usual.”

The junior Holden’s forte is running with the football, so expect the Panthers to keep the ball in his hands and roll him out of the pocket, where he’s the most dangerous. Holden completed both of his pass attempts during that final drive and added 29 yards rushing.

Benicia’s defense played well after allowing a touchdown on Concord’s opening drive. The Minutemen found paydirt only once the rest of the night as the Panthers caused three turnovers.

“We caused some problems for Concord and were able to slow them down a little bit,” Holden said. “We made some things happen, and to hold a team like Concord to only 14 points is saying something.”

McClymonds went 12-0 on the field last year but had to forfeit four games after quarterback Kevin Davidson was ruled ineligible after transferring from San Ramon Valley. Even without the highly-touted quarterback, the Warriors were able to win eight more games and went undefeated in the Oakland League.

“They’re gonna be big, fast and physical and try to run it down our throat,” Holden said of the Warriors, who are making their 2015 debut tonight. “We’re prepared for that. They pose a strong test for us, but I wanted to face good ballclubs in the preseason to get us ready for league and the playoffs. We just need to find a way to win this kind of game.”

Benicia’s offense must deal with a 300-pound McClymonds defensive lineman and a 220-pound linebacker. The Panthers struggled to run the ball against Concord’s veteran defense, rushing for 118 yards on 34 carries.

“Concord was in the North Coast Section championship game last year and they had 9-of-11 defenders returning, so I’m not surprised our offense had some trouble,” Holden said. “But we need to score some points if we want to beat McClymonds.”

The Panthers started off 0-3 last season and would like to prevent that kind of slow start this year by knocking off McClymonds. Despite Benicia’s 0-3 start last year, the Panthers went on to share a co-championship in the Solano County Athletic Conference and made the postseason.

“It doesn’t mean much to beat a bad team by 40 points,” Holden said. “You need to beat teams like Concord and McClymonds to show you’re really a playoff-caliber team.”

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