Photograph by Jill Toyoshiba

Gripping: Westmont's Chris Snyder, fighting for yardage against Fremont, tossed a TD pass against Lincoln.




Warriors come up a point short

Panthers, Dons each roll to victories

By Dick Sparrer

Westmont could have kicked an extra point after its fourth-quarter touchdown against Lincoln last Friday night, and the Warriors could have walked off with a 7-7 tie and their unbeaten record intact.

They could have, but that's not the way Tom Sweeney's been doing business in his illustrious 30-year career as an area high school football coach.

A tie would prove meaningless in the nonleague game. So instead of calling on Dustin Peterson to tack on the game-tying point, the coach called on senior quarterback Chris Snyder to get the Warriors into the endzone.

But Snyder, whose 22-yard touchdown pass to junior Todd Bethke had pulled the Warriors to within a point, was stopped short in his effort to run for the 2-point conversion, and the Warriors ended up losing a 7-6 heartbreaker to the Lions.

The loss followed a season-opening win over Fremont and left Westmont 1-1 for the year. The Warriors will try to get back on the winning track this week when they host Mt. Pleasant on Sept. 22, 7:15 p.m., under the lights at Westmont.

After a scoreless first period, Lincoln took the lead last Friday with a second-quarter touchdown. That 7-0 lead stood up at intermission and held through the third quarter.

But Snyder got the Warriors on the scoreboard in the fourth period with his 22-yard scoring toss to Bethke. The conversion try failed, though, and the Warriors came up a point short.

Snyder completed 10-of-23 passes for 77 yards in the game, hitting senior wide receiver Brian Mazikowski five times.

Senior linebacker Billy Stouffer was the tackling leader for the Warriors, getting in on 12 stops. Bethke was in on nine tackles, Mike Hilbert eight and Aremon Habibi seven.

Ben Peterson picked off a pass in the first period and ran it back 24 yards, but the Warriors weren't able to capitalize on the early turnover.

Prospect rolls

Senior speedster Saladin Washington and junior Ray Woodie combined for over 300 yards rushing to lead Prospect to a rousing 27-6 win over Mt. Pleasant last Friday afternoon.

Washington carried 18 times for 171 yards and two first-half touchdowns to lead the Panthers to their first victory of the season. Washington scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter, then took off on an electrifying 78-yard TD run in the second period to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead at the half.

Woodie, who supported Washington's effort with 143 yards on nine carries, made it 21-0 in the third period with a 43-yard touchdown dash.

Prospect closed out the scoring in the final period when senior quarterback Curtis Wills tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Mike Stephens.

Mike Reclusado starred defensively for the Panthers with three pass interceptions and junior defensive lineman Ryan Schaeffers topped all tacklers with eight stops.

The Panthers, now 1-1, will have their hands full this week when they visit powerful Leigh on Sept. 22, 3:30 p.m. The Longhorns are also 1-1, opening the year with an impressive win over Palo Alto before losing 49-20 to Los Gatos last Friday night.

Dons top Lick

Senior standout Jason Campbell ran for a first-quarter touchdown and passed for a second-period score to lead Del Mar to an 18-0 victory over James Lick last Friday afternoon.

Campbell, a returning all-leaguer for the Dons, rambled 24 yards for the go-ahead touchdown in the first. The quarterback came back in the second period to hit junior Kyle Kelly for 31 yards and a TD.

Del Mar closed out the scoring before intermission when Andrew Palmyra picked off a Lick pass and raced 33 yards for a touchdown.

The Dons, now 1-1, will travel to Lincoln on Sept. 23, 1:30 p.m., as they gun for their second straight victory. The Lions are coming off of the 7-6 win over Westmont that left them 2-0 for the year.

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