Unfortunately for the Panthers, things wouldn't continue to go that well. Evergreen ended up beating the Panthers 26-7 on Oct. 1 on a day when Prospect would score its first offensive touchdown in the last two games. The game was first of the season for each team in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

The Prospect TD came late, with Evergreen already up 26-0. But quarterback Troy Varanchodom got the Panthers on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter when he connected with Kenny Strickland for 25-yard touchdown pass for Prospect's only score of the day. Garrett Karren kicked the extra point, but Prospect still trailed 26-7. Evergreen held that as its margin of victory.

It was quick start for the Panthers with Hutcherson's kick off return, but a play later Varanchodom went up top only to throw an interception. The pick stopped any momentum the Panthers might have gained from their long kick return.

The defense stepped up, though, and key stops by Karren and Hutcherson forced Evergreen to punt. But the Panthers dropped the punt and Evergreen recovered the ball inside Panther territory.

Once more, the Prospect defense stiffened. J.P. Nation came up big with the first sack of the day for a 10-yard loss.

"The defense played really well," said Prospect head coach Carlos Boles, "but we need to focus on ball security and execution."

Evergreen turned the ball over on downs and Prospect had its first real offensive series of the day. But the Panthers had a few more problems with two fumbled snaps that only resulted losses. Nick Nichols ran for three yards, but it wasn't enough to build up steam for Prospect. After the second fumbled snap and an incomplete pass, Karren punted the ball deep into Evergreen territory.

The Panthers got the ball back quickly when Nichols recovered an Evergreen fumble.

Scott Skinner ran exceptionally well up the middle, gaining only five yards but carrying three Evergreen defenders before going down. Two plays later the Panthers fumbled the football back to Evergreen.

Karren and Nichols pounded the running back for a big stop on third down for force Evergreen to punt the ball away again.

Skinner carried the ball once again and hammered his way through the middle, carrying a host of Evergreen tacklers for 12 yards on the play. three plays later the Panthers punted again, and cycle continued for the two clubs.

Evergreen broke the pattern by picking off a pass, then pounded it in for the first touchdown of the day. The extra point attempt was blocked by Karren and Matt Lamb, and the Panthers trailed just 6-0 at intermission.

Evergreen returned the second half kick off for a touchdown to go up 13-0, then put together a seven-play, 66-yard drive for another score.

Evergreen would score one more touchdown to take a 26-0 lead.

Varanchodom connected on a couple of passes down the sides of the field and one across the middle for Prospect's only touchdown.

After Karren kicked the extra point, the ball went back to Evergreen on the kick off, but the Prospect defense held strong and forced a punt.

Varanchodom connected on 3 of 4 passes, with one batted down, before throwing his third interception of the day.

Evergreen ran out the clock with a few running plays.

Nichols led the defensive charge of the Panthers with seven tackles and a fumble recovery, while Hutcherson had eight tackles. Karren also had seven tackles and a blocked kick. Tim Maag and Skinner both had six tackles to keep the defense strong.

Offensively, Prospect was not as impressive. Varanchodom threw 31 passes, but only connected on 10 for 117 yards. Hutcherson ran for 35 yards on only two carries to help the Panther offense while Skinner ran for 40 yards on nine carries.

Prospect ended the day with 190 total yards, but poor ball handling proved costly.

Prospect will play Overfelt on Oct. 8.

"Overfelt is a good team; we need to come to play," said Boles.

Westmont wins

Westmont rolled to a 49-0 win over Andrew Hill on Oct. 1. Daniel Weller ran for nearly 100 yards and scored a touchdown in the win.

Chantz Staden ran for two touchdowns, P.J. Howard blocked a punt and recovered it for a TD, Casey Modiri snagged a touchdown pass from Kevin Pham, Kelly Peterson returned a pass interception for a score and Stefan Fowler ran one in.

The Warriors, now 2-2 for the year, will take a 1-0 Santa Teresa Division record up against Willow Glen on Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m., at Westmont. The Rams lost 31-7 to Santa Teresa in their league opener last Saturday.