Saratoga News

Sports

Panthers rally from behind for season-opening victory

By Mike Barnhart

If Prospect quarterback Mike Brown's emotions did not remain at an even keel during his first varsity game last Saturday afternoon, one could certainly understand.

In the third quarter, with the Panthers hanging on to a one-point lead, Brown scrambled and fired to an open receiver. Only problem was that the player in the clear was a member of the visiting Half Moon Bay team.

"I couldn't believe it!" head coach Al Diaz recalled later. "He sort of panicked and threw it right to their end and he took it back about 25 yards for a touchdown and the lead."

But Diaz stuck by the 6-foot-1, junior signal-caller and Brown did not hang his head. And, in the fourth quarter, Brown directed a pair of touchdown drives, leading Prospect to a 21-14 triumph.

Brown and junior receiver Shane Miller connected for the decisive touchdown, a 47-yard pass and run play with about six minutes left to play.

Jack Rosenwicz, a senior defensive end pressed into action as the kick scorer, tagged on his third straight PAT kick, then helped the Panthers' defense keep the Cougars out of the end zone the rest of the way.

Junior defensive back Nova Hardy, who had broken up three passes earlier in the contest, intercepted a ball to halt a Half Moon Bay drive in the final moments.

"It was an exciting finish," said Diaz, in his first year leading Prospect. "I'm happy for the players, because they have worked real hard. We don't have as many players as we'd like, so many of the guys have to go both ways."

One of those two-way players, senior Fiaavae Fiaavae, scored Prospect's second touchdown early in the fourth quarter. With Half Moon Bay defenders rushing hard, thinking pass, the Panthers had the right play in motion--a "sprint draw." Brown handed the ball to Fiaavae, who bolted through the right side of the line and raced untouched 20 yards, making the score 14-13. Rosenwicz, filling in for injured kickers Thomas Eilers and Rishav Tapa, kicked the extra point to tie the game.

"It was a huge hole--you could've driven a truck through it," Diaz said, praising the blocking of senior offensive linemen George Hicks and Ryan Eseroma and fullback Rodney Fiaavae.

Prospect's first touchdown of the season came in the second quarter, a 65-yard run by senior Kwasi Achiaw. Rosenwicz's kick gave Prospect its first lead, 7-6.

Rushing into the right side of the Prospect line, Achiaw appeared to be stopped by several Cougars, but he bounced to the outside, then reversed his field and outran the defense up the left side.

"That play was really all Kwasi's doing," Diaz explained. "He saw the defense already at the hole, so he cut back against the grain and took it to the house."

Achiaw was a workhorse for the Panthers, packing the ball 19 times for 123 yards. F. Fiaavae gained 41 yards on six carries.

Brown, despite the jittery play that produced Half Moon Bay's third-quarter touchdown, had an effective passing day. He completed 6 of 12 passes for 111 yards. In addition to his TD connection with Miller, Brown hooked up with senior Nate Taye twice for 40 yards and junior Gabe Marcus twice for 19. Senior Chad Hamilton also had a catch, good for five yards.

Defensively, Rosenwicz paced Prospect tacklers with 17 stops. Seniors Paul Michael Davis (12), F. Fiaavae (10) and Curtis Van Wardenberg (9) were other top tacklers.