ST. GEORGE — Revenge is sweet for a Tooele roster full of seniors.

The fired-up Buffaloes, with the memories of a pair of losses to Pine View last season, knocked off the top-ranked Panthers 41-21 Friday night at Panther Stadium.

"They beat us twice last year, and one of them ended our season," Buffs coach Sam Elliott said of the Panthers 45-35 and 52-14 victories from 2005. "You better believe we were thinking about those games."

Tooele never trailed in the game, but twice Pine View closed within striking distance. Both times the Buffaloes defense rose to the challenge.

Late in the third quarter, Pine View had closed to within 27-21. On the move, Pine View quarterback Nick Marinko passed complete to Riley Dias. But the Panthers senior slotback was sandwiched by a pair of defenders and coughed up the football at the Pine View 40-yard line.

Several plays later, Nick Terry ran it in from a yard out to make it 34-21. Pine View began to move it again, but Nic Gochis read a Pine View screen pass and intercepted it. Gochis, not satisfied with just the turnover, ran the pick back 65 yards for the game-sealing score.

"Our motto this year is we want to out-work every team we play," Elliott said. "Give credit to these kids. Every time Pine View made a surge, our guys responded. That's the hard work paying off."

A quick start may have been the difference for the Buffaloes. A long runback by Trifon Gochis on the opening kickoff set Tooele up at the Pine View 26-yard line. Moments later cousin Nic Gochis ran it in from 4 yards out.

After a defensive stop, Tooele went 78 yards in two plays with Dorian Cochran catching a corner pattern pass from Zac Mikesell for 71 yards and the score. Trevor Black added a field goal on the next drive and the Buffs led the No. 1 Panthers 17-0 in the first quarter.

Pine View closed to within 17-14 on a TD run by Jarron Udy and a TD pass from Marinko to Tyler Curtis, but that's as close as they would get all night.

"We just did a crappy job of coaching," Pine View head coach Ray Hosner said. "That's the bottom line. It's our fault."

Mikesell finished with 197 yards passing and a pair of TDs, while Tooele (3-1) racked up 390 yards of offense. The Buffaloes play 5A's Brighton next week.

Pine View (3-1) managed just 246 yards and turned the ball over four times. Tooele also ruled the time of possession, holding the ball for 29 of the game's 48 minutes.