The Prospect football didn't get that chance last Friday afternoon at Monta Vista.

The Matadors delivered a tremendous blow when Winston Nilumol hauled in the opening kickoff at his own 6-yard line and raced 94 yards for a touchdown.

"We got knocked out on that first kickoff," Prospect coach Carlos Boles said after the game. "We were stumbling around a whole lot after that and couldn't get anything going."

In the meantime, Monta Vista scored again to jump in front 14-0 and was well on its way to a 42-24 non-league victory.

The junior tandem of quarterback Alex Atkins and wide receiver Marcus Woo was more than Prospect could handle.

Atkins completed 11 of 17 passes for 294 yards and five touchdowns, most of that going to Woo, who pulled in eight tosses for 267 yards and four scores. Cody Chamberlain snagged a couple of passes for 25 yards, including a 19-yarder for a TD.

The Mats ran up 402 yards on total offense in the win, and they needed all of it against the never-day-die Panthers. Prospect rolled to 349 yards of total offense and cut the Monta Vista lead to 35-24 with 7:22 left in the game when a surprise member of the backfield took off on a 54-yard touchdown run.

Jonathon Eseroma, a 5-foot-11, 173 pounder who doubles as an offensive guard and defensive lineman, stepped in for one play at fullback. Big No. 50 took the hand-off on a dive up the middle, broke three tackles and outran the defense to the end zone.

"He's one of the fastest guys on our team," Boles said of Eseroma. "We needed to find someone who was going to be able to take it to the house."

He did and the Panthers were back in the ballgame.

But not for long--Atkins and company saw to that. Atkins tossed three times to Woo for 35 yards and Roger Kapul ran twice for 18 to move the Matadors down the field. The 53-yard drive was capped by Atkins' 14-yard TD toss to Woo.

Prospect tried to battle back and faced a first down at the Monta Vista 45 following a 12-yard run by Melvin Hutcherson. But Trevor Sambyal forced a fumble on the next play that Chamberlain recovered, and the Mats ran out the clock for the win.

Nilumol got the ball rolling for Monta Vista with his 94-yard kick off return to open the game, then Atkins hooked up with Woo for an 85-yard TD pass moments later.

Prospect answered, though, when Hutcherson ran back the ensuing kick off 54 yards to the Monta Vista 33 and Zack Stevenson went to the air to hit Wesley Nichols for 13 yards and Edric Egberuare for 20 yards and a touchdown. The TD pass bounced off the hands of Nichols, who went up in crowd of defenders to try for the ball. It looked like an old-fashioned tip drill when Egberuare made the catch and sauntered into the end zone.

Atkins and Woo connected again, this time for an 86-yard TD, but once more Prospect responded. Hutcherson picked up a key block from Kyle Koke and raced 54 yards for a score.

Monta Vista got that one right back, though, a play after Justin Turner forced a fumble that Kota Kojima recovered for the Mats. Atkins hit Woo with a 37-yard scoring aerial, and it would be 28-12 at the half.

Prospect trimmed the count to 28-18 when Stevenson tossed 25 yards to Kendall Hendon for six points in the third quarter.

Prospect finished the day with 232 yards on the ground. Hutcherson led the way 99 yards on 13 tries, Nicholas picked up 78 yards on eight carries and Eseroma had the one carry for 54. The backs were working behind an offensive line of tackles Wilson Miller and Kevin Ballard, guards Jonathon Snyder and Uychau Pham and center Mike Mierzejewski.

Stevenson hit on 12 of 16 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Egberuare had five grabs for 39 yards, Hendon two for 30, Shane Jennings two for 28, Nichols two for 19 and Hutcherson one for one.

Hendon was in on seven tackles to lead the Panthers defensively in the win. Nichols and James Ortiz finished with five tackles apiece and Stevenson, Perett Fiaavae and Miller had four each. Miller, Ortiz, Eseroma and Kenny Bake each sacked Atkins.

Koke, Rashaad Watkins and Snyder were also among the tackling leaders and Chris Johnson, Joe Bulicki, Egberuare, Ballard and Mio Aura were in on stops.

The Panthers, who opened the year with a 21-21 tie against Sequoia then beat Lynbrook 12-6, will begin play in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League on Oct. 1, 10:30 a.m., when they host Santa Teresa.