Penalties prove costly, but new-look Panthers continue to battle

By barstoolfanatics on September 19, 2025 • ( Leave a comment )

File photo – The McKinleyville Panthers traveled to Redding to play University Prep on Friday night.

The McKinleyville Panthers are going through a tough stretch in their schedule right now, but 155 yards in penalties did not help their cause on Friday night.

The Panthers traveled to Redding to play a quality University Prep program and lost 41-13.

According to first-year head coach Jason Benge, McKinleyville matched up well against the U Prep Panthers for much of the night but the mistakes were too much to overcome.

“For the most part we actually played fairly even with them,” he said. “But we had 155 yards in penalties. We came out and moved the ball and our defense played well, but then we’d just shoot ourselves in the foot.”

Despite the loss, there were some bright spots for the visiting Panthers, most notably the play of Jeremiah Smith.

Smith scored both of McKinleyville’s touchdowns, one on a run and one on a reception from quarterback Ruger Baxter.

“Jeremiah was our bright spot on offense,” Benge said. “He came out and just played fantastic.”

Early-season injuries have not helped the Panthers, most notably on the offensive line.

But the unit has been impressing despite the injuries, and that continued to be the case on Friday night.

“We’re shorthanded with some injuries, and our offensive line played really well blocking for Jeremiah,,” the head coach added.

This is also a McKinleyville team that continued to battle despite facing big deficits in each of the last two games, against U Prep on Friday and St. Bernard’s two weeks ago, a pair of perennial playoff contenders.

“We knew this was going to be a tough game, and we knew this was going to be a tough stretch,” Benge said. “But the players just continued to play till the end.

“We hung with U Prep, it was just our mental mistakes. But we competed till the end. I think we’re turning the corner a little bit.”