The Bonney Lake Panthers took a 20-point lead in the third period then held off a late Franklin Pierce rally for a 20-14 Homecoming win Friday at Sunset Chev Stadium.

The win kept Bonney Lake in the postseason playoff hunt with a 4-3 record in the South Puget Sound League 3A standings.

Bonney Lake took the opening kickoff and drove to the Cardinal 16, but Cody Cade’s 33-yard field goal attempt was short.

Franklin Pierce stopped the Panthers’ second drive with an interception, but returned the ball back to Bonney Lake as Jayson Stenbakker recovered a fumble.

The Panther exploded for three touchdowns in the second period. On their first possession of the quarter, Aaron Quevedo caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Cole Schuler for a 7-0 lead with Cade’s point after kick with 10 minutes to go in the first half.

With less than two minutes remaining in the half, Schuler tossed his second TD, a 10-yard pass to Tyler Babukas.

After Danny Malloy picked off a Cardinal pass, Babukus caught a tipped pass for a 20-yard TD with 53 seconds remaining in the half.

Franklin Pierce got on the scoreboard with a 7-yard TD run midway through the third quarter.

After a pair of Panther fumbles and a punt, the Cardinals cut Bonney Lake’s margin by six points, 20-14, on a 4-yard run with 1:45 left in the game.

The Cardinals recovered another Panther fumble at their own 44 with 64 seconds left to play.

Franklin Pierce drove to the Panther 25, but a penalty forced the Cardinals back to the 45-yard line.

On third down, Austin Marshall intercepted a pass as time ran out.

“I told our defense to finish the game on a high note,” Panther oach Chad Barrett said.

Barrett said the turnovers and mental mistakes hurt his teams.

“We’ve got to compete for 48 minutes and not make mistakes,” Barrett said.

On defense, Malloy led the Panthers with six solo tackles, four sacks and an interception. Lee Boggan has five tackles and two assists.

Bonney Lake held the Cardinals to 78 yards rushing and 159 yards passing.

Offensively, the Panthers had 125 yards on the ground and more than 220 through the air. Schuler completed 19-of-32 passes for 222 yards, while Babukas caught six balls for 67 yards. Schuler also rushed for 76 yards on 13 carries before leaving the game with 1:04 remaining after taking a hard hit.

The Panthers close out the regular season at home Friday against district rival Sumner. Game time is 7 p.m.