WILLOW WOOD -- The Chesapeake Panthers kept doing what they had been doing the first two games, then added a couple of new things.

The combination of old and new was just what the Panthers needed as they beat the Symmes Valley Vikings 20-9 Friday for their first win of the season.

"We executed better and didn't make nearly as many mistakes (as in the past two games)," Panthers coach Phil Davis said. "We have a pretty good kicking game, and we finally got good field position. We didn't have a lot of offense, but the defense is still playing good. We played solid defensively."

Symmes Valley outgained the Panthers 209 to 193 and doubled their first downs output.

"We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot," Vikings coach Rusty Webb said. "I thought our kids played hard, we just got to eliminate the mistakes at crucial times. We felt we won every battle except the one on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, that's the one that counts."

A bright spot for the Panthers offense was quarterback Justin Finley who hit 4 of 7 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a score.

"We've got to find a way to get some offense. Finley threw the ball well. That's got to help, but we've got to find a way to get some offense," said Davis.

After a scoreless first quarter, Tyler Marcum capped a scoring drive set up with a punt return as he ran 5 yards for a touchdown. Finley kicked the point after and it was 7-0.

Symmes Valley (2-1) answered with a 20-yard field goal by Cory Burcham with just 39 seconds left.

Chesapeake used a kickoff return to the 40-yard line and a short pass by Finley got the ball to the Vikings 48. Finley then hit Dustin O'Brien who carried a couple of defenders into the end zone for the touchdown as time expired and it was 13-3.

"That long pass at the end of the first half was a killer. That really hurt," Webb said. "When you're young, you make mistakes at crucial times. We have to eliminate that."

Webb was also referring to the opening drive of the game. Symmes Valley scored when Craig Neal ran 2 yards on a third and one. But an illegal procedure penalty nullified the touchdown and the Panthers held on downs.

Finley had a 25-yard scoring run with 5:53 left in the third quarter that gave the Panthers a 20-3 lead.

Symmes Valley came right back to score on a 6-yard pass from Cory Burcham to Chris Elswick, but neither team could score the fourth quarter.

Burcham led all rushers with 55 yards on 13 carries. Justin Holland had 46 yards on two tries and Matt Owens 39 yards on nine attempts.

Cody Hunt ran 13 times for 34 yards to pace the Panthers.

Chesapeake01370--20

Sym. Valley0360--9

Second Quarter

Ch -- Tyler Marcum 5 run (Justin Finley kick) 6:34

SV -- Cory Burcham 20 field goal

:39

Ch -- Dustin O'Brien 48 pass from Justin Finley (pass failed)

:00

Third Quarter

Ch -- Justin Finley 25 run (Justin Finley kick)

5:53

SV -- Chris Elswick 6 pass from Cory Burcham (run failed) 1:24

First downs:Ch6,SV12

Rushes-yards:Ch31-96,SV42-138

Passing yards:Ch97,SV71

Total yards:Ch193,SV209

Cmp-Att-Int:Ch4-7-1,SV8-13-0

Fumbles-lost:Ch1-0,SV2-1

Penalties-yards:Ch8-50,SV7-66

Punts-average:Ch4-36.8,SV2-20.0

Individual Leaders

RUSHING -- Chesapeake: Tyler Marcum 2-minus 1, Cody Hunt 13-34, Justin Finley 4-25, Andy Stapleton 8-23, Tristin Clark 2-minus 4. Symmes Valley: Craig Neal 8-minus 7, Cory Burcham 13-55, Derek Carpenter 4-5, Justin Holland 2-46, Matt Owens 9-39.

PASSING -- Chesapeake: Justin Finley 4-7-1

97. Symmes Valley: Craig Neal 7-11-0

6, Cory Burcham 1-2-0

6..

RECEIVING -- Chesapeake: Caleb Robbins 2-31, Dustin O'Brien 2-66; Symmes Valley: Chris Elswick 4-21, Derek Carpenter 2-19, Cory Burcham 1-25, Chad Artrip 1-6.