A season that started out on such a disappointing note took a remarkable turn last Saturday when the Prospect Panthers rolled to a 41-12 non-league victory over Sequoia.

The Panthers had opened the year with a tough loss to The King's Academy, but Prospect rebounded on the strength of the passing of Troy Varanchodom and the running of Jeremy Nuia—not to mention a stellar defensive effort.

"We showed great improvement from last week," said Prospect head coach Mike Carrozzo. "Our defense played very well, giving up a net 84 yards in the game and allowing only three completions in 12 attempts."

"And offensively, things started to click," he added. "We still have much to improve on, but it was very nice step forward on a very hot day."

Varanchodom hooked up on 4 of 6 passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Prospect offense, and Nuia raced for 86 yards on 12 carries, including a 38-yard touchdown run.

But it was the defense that got the Panthers on the scoreboard first in the game. Franklin Fuller stepped in front of a Sequoia pass and returned the interception 31 yards for a touchdown. Garrett Karren's extra point gave the Panthers an early 7-0 lead.

It wouldn't remain 7-0 for long, though. Nuia took off on his 38-yard TD run before the end of the period to up the lead to 13-0.

Varanchodom got in on the scoring act in the second period with a 58-yard touchdown strike to Elvy Harris and a 26-yard TD toss to Kyilo Hulton. Sandwiched between before the two touchdown throws was a 1-yard TD run by Chevelle Epps, following by a Karren extra point kick.

Karren drilled a 46-yard field goal in the third quarter and Fuller pulled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Cory Williams in the fourth period to close out the scoring for the Panthers. Williams hit on 2 of 4 passes for 30 yards and the TD late in the game.

Epps supported Nuia' efforts on the ground with six carries for 31 yards. Daniel Huskin-Jones added a 12-yard run for the Panthers.

Harris led the corps of receivers for Prospect with three catches for 104 yards. Hulton had the one catch for 26 yards and Fuller and Scott Skinner each caught a pass for 20 yards.

Andrew Shouse was the defensive leader for the Panthers in the win, getting in on seven tackles.

"Andrew Shouse was the anchor of the defense today," said Carrozzo of the senior linebacker. "He was always around the ball."

Marcus Laffen had a couple of quarterback sacks among his five tackles and Karren and J.P. Nation were in on four tackles apiece. Karren also had two sacks.

"Garrett Karren played incredibly hard and was in on almost every down on offense, defense and special teams," said the coach. "On a 100-degree day, that's saying something."

Skinner, Joe Adamo, Daniel Jennings and Michael Graves were also among the tackling leaders for the Panthers. Adamo and Jennings each sacked the Sequoia quarterback and Skinner, like Fuller, intercepted a pass.

"The defensive line did an incredible job with their pass rush today, totaling six sacks and countless more hurries," added the coach.

The Panthers will take their 1-1 season record on the road this week to visit Del Mar on Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., in a non-league game.

"All in all, we showed much improvement [against Sequoia], but we must keep focused on our upcoming opponent [Del Mar]," said Carrozzo. "We must build on what we learned this week and put our best foot forward to be competitive."

Vikings fall

Branham started the year in impressive fashion, rolling to a 41-0 win over Lynbrook in non-league play. Senior letterman Andre Ingram led the Bruins to the victory, rushing for more than 200 yards, including touchdown runs of 40, 23 and 5 yards.

The Vikings will gun for their first win of the young season this week when they visit Leland on Sept. 20, 1:15 p.m. The Chargers lost 21-20 to Pioneer in the first week of the season, but knocked off Mt. Pleasant 28-0 last week.

Warriors lose

Westmont opened the year with a loss, dropping a 26-21 heartbreaker to Fremont of Oakland. The Warriors will try to get on the winning track this week when they host Gunderson on Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m. The Grizzlies lost 21-0 to Lincoln last weekend.