Saratoga News

Good start, tough finish for Panthers vs. Pioneer

By Dick Sparrer

Three plays and a punt, and Prospect had the football in Friday afternoon's league opener against Pioneer. At least, that's how things started for the Panthers. But it was all downhill from there on.

The Panthers stopped the Mustangs cold after the opening kickoff in Friday's clash in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. But from that point on it was all Pioneer.

The Mustangs rolled up a 28-0 lead by intermission and went on to record a 35-6 win over the Panthers, the defending division champions.

Pioneer is a newcomer to the division. The Mustangs won the West Valley Division title in the BVAL last fall, and they moved up to the Santa Teresa this season.

But even though the Mustangs are new to the division, they have long been a nemisis of the Panthers. Two years ago, Pioneer beat Prospect 36-15, and last fall the Mustangs tied the Panthers 21-21 in a mild upset.

In this year's clash, the Mustangs struck early and often, taking advantage of five Prospect turnovers to claim the league victory.

Prospect stopped Pioneer on three plays and a punt to open the game, but the Mustangs scored on their next three possessions to open up the 28-0 lead.

A 25-yard run by Sean Sarsfield and a 17-yard run by Mike Wiens set up Pioneer's first touchdown, a 20-yard run by Sarsfield. Nick Harrison kicked the first of his five extra points, and the Mustangs were up 7-0 with 5:31 left in the first period.

Prospect battled right back, though. A penalty gave the Panthers a first down and helped them move near midfield, and then Matt McHattie rambled for 12 yards to the Pioneer 43 for another first. But the threat ended when Jeff Luu made an acrobatic interception on a Jordan Williams pass. It was the first of five interceptions thrown by Prospect quarterbacks in the game, three of them leading directly to Pioneer touchdowns.

An 18-yard run by Wiens, a 19-yard run by Ted Lopez and a 17-yard toss from Greg Haskell to Travis Murdock set up Wiens for an 11-yard TD run.

On the second play after the kickoff, Brian Davis picked off a Prospect pass and ran for an apparent touchdown. The run was called back because of a clip, but on the next play Wiens went 31 yards for the touchdown.

Defensive lineman Sal Baglione intercepted a screen pass on Prospect's first play after the kickoff, and three plays later Haskell tossed four yards to Murdock for the TD.

Prospect responded with its best drive of the half.

McHattie, who led the Panthers with 87 yards on 20 carries, romped for 32 yards on five attempts and Williams hit David Hildreth for 22 yards to lead Prospect to the Pioneer 33. But a first-down pass was intercepted by Sarsfield, and Pioneer ran out the clock to preserve a 28-0 halftime lead.

The clubs traded the football to open the second half before the Panthers finally put together a scoring drive that started late in the third period.

Senior fullback Casey Macartney rambled for 22 yards and quarterback Barry Sharpe, who took over for Williams in the second half, scrambled for 13.

Sharpe flipped a 26-yard pass to Andrew Heling to take the Panthers to the Pioneer 29.

An 11-yard run by Macartney and a nine-yard run by McHattie set up a 10-yard touchdown run by McHattie with 9:08 left in the game. Sharpe tried to pass for the two-point conversion, but was sacked by Grant Murdock. Still, the Panthers had scored to cut the Pioneer lead to 28-6. But their joy was short-lived.

Kevin Gray returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards to the Prospect 32, and Haskell tossed to Gray for nine yards to give the Mustangs a first down at the 21. Wiens ran 12 yards, then Sarsfield went the final nine for the touchdown.

Macartney supported McHattie's efforts with 38 yards on six carries.

Hildreth and Chris Sanchez led the Prospect defensive effort with five tackles apiece. Macartney, Clint Coronel and Brian Shouse got in on three stops each, and Jedremian Evans had a key stop in the Pioneer backfield.

Antonio Sentieo, Matt Schwartz, Josh Mattson and Jimmy Tongamoa were others in on tackles for the Panthers in the game.

Panthers battle Warriors

The Panthers, now 1-3 for the year and 0-1 in division play, will try to get back on the winning track this week when they face Westmont in a nonleague game.

The Warriors, coming off a rousing 38-0 win over San Jose, will celebrate homecoming when they host the Panthers on Oct. 9, 6:45 p.m.

Westmont, also 1-3 for the year, opened West Valley Division play with the win over the Bulldogs last Friday night.

John Trevillion ran for three touchdowns and Ryan Brando scored two TDs to lead the Warriors to the win.

Brando hauled in a 10-yard scoring toss from junior quarterback Tony Oka, then raced 20 yards for a touchdown to help the Warriors open up a quick 13-0 lead in the first period.

Trevillion, who led all Westmont ball-carriers with 65 yards on 12 carries, scored on a runs of three and 10 yards in the second quarter, then ran 10 yards for a touchdown in the final period.

Oka, who hooked up on six of eight passes for 74 yards in the win, hit Ben Holmes for 20 yards and a second-quarter touchdown for the Warriors.

Mike Hibert kicked a couple of extra points and helped the Warriors maintain field position with a solid kicking game.

Vikings fall

Lynbrook suffered its first loss of the season last Friday, falling 42-14 in a nonleague game against Milpitas.

The Vikings, now 3-1 for the year, will try to get back on the winning track this week when they visit Cupertino on Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m. The game will be the league opener for the Vikes in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

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