Carrozzo's Panthers came within inches of scoring a 2-point conversion late in their game against Andrew Hill. When they came up short, though, the Falcons pulled out a 14-13 victory.

The Falcons were up 14-7 when Jeremy Nuia scooped up a Hill fumble and rambled 18 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 14-13.

"We decided to go for the 2-point conversion simply because we are hitting only 30 percent of our PATs this year thus far, and we thought we had a better chance running it in," said Carrozzo. "We were off by about three inches. Sometimes games are that close."

The Panthers had scored first in the game when Andrew Shouse picked up a Hill bobble and raced 90 yards for a touchdown. Garrett Karren kicked the extra point to give Prospect a 7-0 lead that would stand up through intermission.

But Hill scored twice in the third quarter to take the lead. Prospect scored again just over midway through the final period, but the missed 2-point conversion left the Panthers a point short.

"Our offense wasn't clicking all day," said Prospect coach Mike Carrozzo. "We needed much more intensity on the front line to get the job done. It's something that we will be working on."

Both Prospect touchdowns were scored by the defense, all part of a solid showing by the Panthers' defensive unit.

"Our defense played an outstanding game," said Carrozzo. "The defense gave up just 177 yards on the day."

The two Hill touchdowns were both the result of a short field. The Falcons took over inside the Prospect 15-yard line before scoring their TDs. In all, Hill could manage just 69 yards on 22 carries on the ground and 108 yards on 10 pass completions. Prospect sacked the Hill quarterback three times and picked off one of his passes.

Shouse was the tackling leader for the Panthers with 11 stops and he also had the fumble return for the touchdown. Karren supported with 10 tackles.

Nuia had a big day with nine tackles, including a forced fumble and a quarterback sack. He also had the fumble recovery for the TD.

Marcus Laffen finished with eight tackles and Scott Skinner had six. Each one had a QB sack.

Joel Evans had a fumble recovery to go with three tackles, and Kyilo Hulton had two tackles and intercepted a pass.

"We're starting to develop a solid foundation to build on with our defense," said Carrozzo. "We're hoping that will also happen with our offense in the very near future. If one feeds off the other, it will be interesting to see."

One of the problems facing the Panthers on Friday was that they were pretty short-handed.

"Due to grades, injuries and other circumstances, we dressed only 22 [players] to start the game and 19 finished," he said. "All 19 showed a great deal of heart."

Prospect, now 1-3 for the year, will go after its first league win this week. The Panthers will visit Lincoln on Oct. 11, 1:30 p.m., for a Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division game. The Lions are 3-0 following a 28-7 non-league win over Evergreen Valley last Friday. Prospect opened the league season with the loss to Hill.