The Campbell Reporter
Sports
Panthers open league play with victory
By Dick Sparrer
It was time to play football games that count last week, and that turned out to be good news for Prospect, but not such good news for the squads at Del Mar and Westmont.
The Panthers opened play in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League with a rousing 35-0 shutout win over James Lick. The victory evened Prospect's season record at 2-2 while the winless Comets slipped to 0-4.
Things didn't go quite as well for Del Mar and Westmont in their league openers, though. The Dons lost 29-8 to Evergreen Valley in their West Valley Division lidlifter, and the Warriors lost 20-7 to Gunderson in the first game of the year for each club in the Santa Teresa Division.
Prospect had an easy time of it against Lick, leading 21-0 at the half and scoring in every quarter against the Comets.
Kendall Hendon and Joseph Clayton each scored two touchdowns and Zach Stevenson threw for a couple of TDs to lead the Panthers to the victory.
Stevenson's 28-yard scoring toss to Shane Miller, followed the first of five extra point kicks by David Matusewicz, gave the Panthers a 7-0 first-quarter lead.
Clayton took off on a 14-yard touchdown run in the second period and Stevenson hit Hendon with a 46-yard TD toss before intermission to put Prospect on top 21-0.
Hendon ran 10 yards for a third-quarter touchdown and Clayton picked off a pass and ran it back 55 yards for a score in the final period.
Jeremy Eseroma was the ground leader the Panthers with 94 yards on 13 carries, and Paul Michael Davis led the defensive effort with 10 tackles.
Prospect will go after its second straight league win this week when the Panthers hit the road to take on Sobrato High School on Oct. 6, 7 p.m., at Live Oak in Morgan Hill.
Del Mar slipped to 0-4 for the year after losing its league opener to Evergreen Valley last week. The Cougars, 3-1 this season, scored four times to take a 29-0 lead before the Dons broke up the shutout bid with a touchdown and two-point conversion in the final quarter.
Thomas Johnson scored on an 8-yard run, and Stephen Salerno caught a two-point pass from Anthony Cukar to account for the only Del Mar score on the night.
The Dons will be trying to break into the win column when they travel to Santa Teresa on Oct. 7, 1:30 p.m., for a non-league game. The Saints are 2-2 this season and play in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.
Westmont is another Santa Teresa Division club, and the Warriors opened league play last week with the loss to Gunderson. The Grizzlies opened up a 20-0 lead before the Warriors finally broke the scoring ice in the fourth quarter.
Joey Carolan tossed a 40-yard touchdown pass to David Creager in the final period and Kevin Blakley kicked the extra point.
The Warriors slipped to 0-4 with the loss and will be looking for their first win of the year when they visit Leland on Oct. 6, 7 p.m. The Chargers are 2-2 after beating Santa Teresa 16-6 in their league opener last Friday.
Field hockey
Emily Holm had two assists to set up teammates Sara Perry and Christina Vermy for goals in Del Mar's 2-0 win over Branham in West Valley Division field hockey play last week. The win helped the Dons improve to 3-0-1 in the division.
The Dons face a bye on Wednesday before hosting San Jose Academy in a league game on Oct. 6, 3 p.m.
In Santa Teresa Division action last week, Westmont outlasted Prospect 2-1 thanks to a couple of second-half goals by Johanna Publicover and Syra McCarthy. Courtney Schembri had assists on both of the goals.
The Warriors, who battled Presentation to a scoreless tie to open the league season, are 3-4-1 for the year and 1-2-1 in league play. Prospect slipped to 0-4 in the division and to 1-6 for the year.
Westmont is on the road this week for a couple of 3 p.m. games, visiting Leigh on Oct. 3 and Live Oak on Oct. 5. Prospect was to host Live Oak on Tuesday and will entertain Lynbrook on Oct. 5, 3 p.m.
