Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Panthers edge Rams 14-6 in league opener

By Greg Lydon

Willow Glen football coach Ron Capurso wanted to see an improvement from his young team on both sides of the ball after a lopsided defeat against Del Mar last week. Capurso's Willow Glen defense battled all game long but fell short against Prospect in its Blossom Valley Athletic League West Valley Division opener, falling 14-6 at Willow Glen.

A swarming, relentless Prospect defense bucked the Rams, forcing five turnovers on the afternoon.

"We turned the ball over too many times today," Capurso said after the loss. "We just need to keep improving and try to make some noise in league."

The Panthers got the turnover bug going early, forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff and recovering the ball at the Willow Glen 30-yard line.

Prospect cashed in on the early scoring opportunity as quarterback Mike Brown found running back Kwasi Achiaw on back-to-back pass plays, the second connection going for 11 yards and a Prospect touchdown to give the Panthers an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Willow Glen quickly responded on offense with a nice one-two punch on the ground from powerful fullback Bobby Lopez and shifty tailback Ricky Huynh. Huynh scored on a 12-yard touchdown run, but a block-in-the-back penalty cost Willow Glen six points as penalties haunted the Rams all day long.

Huynh finished with 81 yards on the ground and one touchdown, while Lopez rushed for 35 yards as the two backs kept their team in the game with over 100 yards combined on the ground for the Rams.

Junior starting quarterback Marcus Findeisen started off hot for Willow Glen, finding his brother Charlie Findeisen on a 22-yard completion on the Rams second drive of the game. But after sacks and penalties doomed the promising drive, turnovers caused Capurso to make a switch at quarterback. Recent transfer Daniel Castillo was called on to spark the Rams offense, and he quickly completed two passes out of the gate.

"I was going to go back to Marcus. I just wanted to give Daniel a look and settle Marcus down," Capurso said. "I liked what I saw from Daniel, getting him some game action, but I needed my starter in there to give my team a chance to win in the second half."

Castillo transferred to Willow Glen from Valley Christian two weeks ago.

M. Findeisen returned after halftime and quickly got Willow Glen moving as he found Lopez across the middle, with Lopez slashing for 17 yards deep inside Prospect territory. On the next play, Huynh got the pitch and burst 17 yards down to the 2-yard line. Huynh found the end zone two plays later on a one-yard touchdown run.

C. Findeisen, Julio Iraheta, Robert Morrey and Jose Gutierrez all recorded sacks for an upstart Willow Glen defense that matched the pressure of Prospect's defense all game long.

"We played hard on defense; we just didn't make enough plays on offense," Capurso said. "We need a great week of preparation--I don't think we've had that yet this season. That's coaches and players working together, and we can have a great showing next week against Hill."

The Rams will play host to Andrew Hill on Oct. 6, 1:30 p.m. The Falcons are off to a hot start this season, with wins in their first four games. Hill opened the West Valley Division season last Saturday with a rousing 43-0 victory over San Jose Academy.