Football Recap: Dynamic Duo of Jorden Neugebauer and John Bernardez Lead Chico to Victory + How To Watch

Panthers

Previous 3 Games

09/12/25 vs Yuba City	26-6
08/29/25 @ Antelope	33-13
08/22/25 vs Nevada Union	42-13

Chico extended their winning streak to three on Friday, bumping them up to 3-0. They put the hurt on the Yuba City Honkers with a sharp 26-6 win. That's two games straight that the Panthers have won by exactly 20 points.

A big part of Chico's victory came down to the chemistry between John Bernardez and his top target Jorden Neugebauer. Bernardez threw for 131 yards and one TD while completing 77.8% of his passes while Neugebauer picked up 98 receiving yards and one score. Neugebauer really caught the secondary sleeping when he pulled down a catch that went for 81 yards.

Chico didn't let much get past them through the air: they limited Yuba City to a completion percentage of just 45%. The Panthers hasn't an opponent to post a completion percentage of 0.45 or higher in five consecutive contests dating back to last season.

Chico didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Andrew Ortiz and Neugebauer.

As for Yuba City, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 2-2. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last six times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

When it comes to explaining why Yuba City lost, don't look at Hank Watson. Despite the final result, he rushed for 116 yards and one touchdown while picking up 7.3 yards per carry.

Coming up, Chico will challenge Ukiah at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday. As for Yuba City, they will square off against River Valley at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The Honkers will be up against the Falcons' rather soft defense (which has allowed 31 points per matchup), so fans could be in store for a big offensive performance.