Northern Section: No. 8 Chico glad to be home, runs past River Valley

CHICO, Calif. — The Chico football team came out ready to defend its home turf Friday night following a loss on the road to Sutter in Week 1. .

The Panthers scored on six of their first seven possessions en route to a 47-6 over visiting River Valley at Panther Stadium in Chico.

The Chico offense looked shaky in its first possession fumbling the ball on just the third play of the game.

River Valley took advantage of the turnover. 

On fourth down and 5, quarterback Jackson Mcpeak weaved through the Panther defense, breaking several tackles on his way to a 41-yard rushing touchdown.

Chico High sophomore linebacker Ryker James blocked the point after attempt and the momentum began to shift to the Panthers as their home crowd erupted.

Chico starting quarterback Azari Cruz sat his offensive line down and told them they had to be physical, and receiver Troy Sommer said the team came out flat and they couldn't let the game get away that quick.

"We had a pretty good play off-tackle and then we ran that jet sweep off tackle and fumbled so we turned it over. It was kind of reminiscent of last week (against Sutter)," said Chico High coach Jason Alvistur. "Our defense stepped up and got things going. We started picking up consistently and our defense got some energy. I think they were upset that they let that score so easily especially on a fourth down. You could tell they picked their energy up and got after it."

Indeed. 

Dylan O'Hair capped a 5-play, 55-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown with 6 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first quarter. The extra point gave the Panthers the lead for good, 7-6. 

After a three-and-out, O'Hair made it 14-6 on a 34-yard TD scamper and with 18 seconds left in the first. 

Logan Treanor set up Chico's next score with an interception. A few plays later, Cruz threw a 22-yard touchdown pass, making it 21-6. 

River Valley's offense again went three-and-out on its next possession and Chico took over on the Falcons' 28-yard line. Jaden Neugebaur got his chance this time and scored on a 1-yard rushing touchdown to make it 27-6 with 1:31 left in the half.

Chico wasn't nearly done. 

On the first play of River Valley's next possession, defensive tackle Fabian Ibarra punched the ball out and recovered the fumble. Cruz promptly completed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Sommer, making it 33-6. 

River Valley fumbled on the kickoff and the Panthers capitalized quickly. Cruz handed the ball to Anthony Hernandez, who passed the ball to Carlos Zepeda for a 28-yard touchdown and the first-half onslaught was complete. Chico led 40-6. 

Cruz capped the scoring with his third TD pass, a 15-yarder to Jake Serrao midway through the third. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock. 

Alvistur said his team executed its assignments a lot better this week, but there are still things to clean up. 

"We’re understanding things better," he said. "From one week to the next, I’m proud of our growth."

Said Cruz: "It feels good to win at home. Our goal is to never lose at home," 

Said Sommer: "We can’t do it without our O-line. They really got it done tonight."

Chico (1-1) now prepares for its second road matchup 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Yuba City, before heading to Rocklin Sept. 16. The Panthers were scheduled to play Sept. 9 but the game was moved to Thursday due to a referee shortage.

River Valley (0-3) hosts Del Oro-Loomis next week. 

Justin Couchot is a staff writer with the Chico Enterprise-Record. He can be reached at jcouchot@chicoer.com or follow him on Twitter @JCouchot_Sports