GOWANDA — The Gowanda/Pine Valley Panthers earned their first victory of the season as they stymied the Chautauqua Lake/Westfield/Brocton Thunderbirds 30-8 in Gowanda.

The Panthers offense worked heavily on the ground punching in three rushing scores, two from Gavin Phillips and one from Maddox Browning. Through the air, Noah Geiger added a receiving touchdown.

On the defensive side of the ball Gowanda/Pine Valley kept the Thunderbirds off the board until the late fourth quarter and forced four fumbles, recovering three of them.

“Defensively we played an outstanding game,” said Gowanda/Pine Valley head coach Tyler Thompson. “Gavin Phillips at linebacker leads the team in tackles and Marcus Williams at linebacker are two guys that we rely heavily on. They do a great job of holding teams tight.”

The victory for the Panthers is the first under Thompson and he hopes it is a sign of things to come for the team.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the kids, so happy they were able to notch a win with some heavy odds stacked against them,” stated Thompson. “These kids have weathered the storm and worked as hard as they could because they wanted to win. It is a huge vote of confidence.”

Gowanda/Pine Valley is back in action next week against Falconer/Cassadaga Valley/Maple Grove.