Panthers Learn From Turbulent First Week
August 24, 2025

[River City Raiders]

It was a Roller Coaster week for the Lady Panthers of the Gridiron, and if the first week of the season is any indication of what the year is going to be like, put on your seatbelts folks, it might be a rocky ride.  

The Florin Panthers played their first scrimmage against River City on Monday and competed against a very solid Raider team from West Sacramento. Last year they finished 7-5 in a competitive Monticello League and gave the Panthers all they could handle. 

The Raiders managed to score 4 touchdowns to the Panthers 3 in the scrimmage format, but the outcome would have been different if multiple Florin interceptions by Janiya Brister, Rhian Fitzgerald and Jazz Landers led to turnovers.  In a real game, Florin would have had an enormous momentum and field position advantage, but instead, River City was allowed to continue to run their offense in the scrimmage format. 

When asked about how the girls fared, Coach Harris transparent as always said, “It was what I expected. When we executed the plan we were good, when we didn’t, we were not very good. Our attendance has been poor since practices officially began August 4th, affecting our ability to respond to the new rule changes. We will learn by doing and get better every day. That’s all we got.”

National Anthem

[Monterey Trail Mustangs]

The following night the Panthers opened up at home in the Jungle at Panther Park for a rare 7pm start to take on Monterey Trail Mustangs. 

The game was extremely even until the wheels fell off late in the 4th quarter. 

Coach Harris said in his post game reflection to EliteBlueChip “The game was close the entire way. We have to have more resolve next time. ‘Fatigue makes cowards of us all’ as the Great Vince Lombardi used to say. We need to be in better shape mentally and physically. We cramped up in the heat. Tip your hat to MT. They finished us when they had the opportunity. It’s only one game. Champions always bounce back.”

And bounce back they did. 

Senior Zavanna Payne on the move.

[JF Kennedy Cougars]

Two days later, The Panthers hopped on a yellow bus to John F Kennedy HS. The Greenhaven/ Pocket area of Sacramento was smoking hot.  The game almost didn’t occur due to the extreme high heat index measured by the Kennedy trainer at midfield.  

As Coach Harris says, “When it's too hot for them, it's just right for us.”

The Panthers rolled to a 48-0 throttling of the Cougars. 

QB1 Jayda Lewis had a day! The Senior gunslinger was 8 for 15 in the air throwing three touchdowns and had another on the ground. Lewis found Zavanna Payne on a 17 yard TD, then hit Jazz Landers on a beautiful touch pass over the middle for 25 yards. Then the Senior captain put the last nail in the coffin with a beautiful ball giving Rhian Fitzgerald a chance to go high point. 

Senior Paris Jones evading a defender

b said, “Rhian has been a blessing. She is only a freshman, coachable, dependable and will only get better. She ‘Mossed’ a decent Kennedy cornerback going up for the ball at the highest point. We gotta find more ways to get Rhi the ball.”

The Panther ground game was running on all cylinders. Lewis scored on a 22 yard scamper up the middle. Paris Jones scored on a 18 yard sweep down the left sideline. Janiya Brister scored on a 12 yard burst on a jet sweep down the other sideline. 
Freshman speedster Kristin Juniel added another touchdown in the 4th quarter 

Janiya Brister’s pick 6 to begin the game gave the Panthers energy and confidence  right from the bell. 

“Brister is our eraser back in the secondary. If anyone gets through our first and second lines of defense, Janiya is there and if you overthrow a ball, there is a good chance she is going to pick it”, Coach Harris told EliteBlueChip
 
On the defensive side, Paris Jones had three sacks. Jazira Arteaga Khandilyan added two more, while Naomi Brister and Kamaeh Davis pulled flags with vengeance. Vienna Flores, starting at Linebacker, also had an additional sack. 

Jazira Arteaga Khandilyan in Hot Pursuit

Both Florin cornerbacks Landers and Fitzgerald were ‘lockdown’.  Landers had a nice pick and run in the later half of the game. Fitzgerald also had an INT in the red zone on the only drive Kennedy threatened to score. 

Future PHD Maria Ortiz was perfect in alignment and assignment while freshman Veanka Lozoya and Mariana Gonzalez all got a taste of varsity football. 

In the end the Panthers celebrated as they should. 

At the end of the week, the Panthers gained valuable experience reaffirming they are a solid team when composed and determined.

Coach Harris said before the game, “do your job for 48 minutes with relentless execution with an intensity the other team cannot match.” 

It wasn’t perfect, but 48-0 felt way better than 32-0. 

Senior QB1 Jayda Lewis dropping some dimes against Kennedy

Next week doesn’t get any easier as the Lady Florin Panthers of the Gridiron take on the mighty Pleasant Grove Eagles in the Jungle on Tuesday and the legit Cosumnes Oaks Wolfpack on Thursday that finished 8-4 last year in the mighty Delta League.