It would have been a good night for a fundraiser at Lynbrook–perhaps a pass-a-thon or a score-a-thon–as the host Vikings and Prospect both sought their first win of the season.
Prospect found it, outlasting Lynbrook 45-34 in a see-saw affair. The Panthers evened their record at 1-1, as junior quarterback Sam Adams completed 22 of 36 passes for 482 yards and six touchdowns and outdueled Lynbrook senior Tony Roberts, who threw for 216 yards and three scores.
Adams’ sidekick was explosive senior Tarnell Pollard, who caught 11 balls for 355 yards and four touchdowns, including a 97-yard pass and run that put the Panthers ahead 39-28 and helped them pull away early in the fourth quarter.
Pollard also collected a couple of takeaways for Prospect, intercepting a pass and returning a blocked field goal by sophomore Ryan Grissom 68 yards.
“It went back and forth, but the big plays killed us,” said Lynbrook coach Alan Vinciguerra, whose team led for much of the first half and 28-25 late in the third quarter, before dropping to 0-3.
Adams and Pollard connected for touchdowns of 5 and 80 yards in the second quarter and 30 and 97 in the fourth.
“We would have them pinned down, but they hit No. 7 [Pollard] or No. 3 [senior Andrew Allsup] on a slant or deep route and he breaks it,” Vinciguerra said.
Adams hooked up with Allsup for a 27-yard TD pass in the second quarter and combined with senior Raiden Sainz for the Panthers’ final scoring toss–a 19-yarder in the fourth quarter.
Senior Jonathan Chang, a two-way player for Lynbrook last year, missed the previous week’s game at San Mateo, but was back in the offensive line-up against Prospect.
“He played sparingly, but was a difference-maker for us,” Vinciguerra said of Chang.
Chang caught eight passes from Roberts for 152 yards and two touchdowns, and he returned a punt for a third score. Senior Albert Kim also caught a scoring pass from Roberts, a 35-yarder, and he kicked a 42-yard field goal and a couple of PATs.
Lynbrook led for much of the first half, but Prospect took a 25-20 lead just before halftime on a 1-yard run by Adams.
The Vikings regained the lead in the third quarter when senior defensive tackle J.R. MacPherson hit the Prospect quarterback as he was getting ready to deliver a pass. The ball popped out of his hands and into the arms of Vikings linebacker Gavin Dersh-Fisher, who rambled 55 yards for a touchdown. Chang scored a two-point conversion to make it 28-25.
The Panthers scored three touchdowns in a row to go ahead 45-28, before Lynbrook added a late score to reach the final margin.
Senior Daniel Wang and junior Yuval Kapilevich paced Lynbrook with five tackles each, while seniors Cyrus Andrew, Dersh-Fisher and Mike Malagon each added four.
Sophomore running back Jeff Wallis was held under 100 rushing yards for the first time as “Prospect was well prepared for us and really keyed on him,” said Vinciguerra.
Wallis ran the ball 13 times for 44 yards and caught four passes for 25.
Mustangs win
Homestead improved to 2-1 by beating Carlmont 21-13 in Belmont on Sept. 19.
Senior Ryan Allemandi’s 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter proved to be the decisive score, after the Scots (2-1) had recovered from a 12-6 halftime deficit and went ahead 13-12 on a 6-yard TD run with three minutes left in the third quarter.
Homestead opened and closed the scoring with a pair of John Rak field goals, a 33-yarder in the first quarter and a 29-yarder in the fourth. Rak also stopped a Carlmont drive by intercepting a pass.
In the second quarter, the Mustangs scored on a 1-yard TD run by junior Devaun Crittle and a safety when Carlmont was called for intentional grounding from the end zone.
Allemandi finished with 116 yards on eight carries, helping Homestead outgain Carlmont in total rushing yards 279-231.
In their final non-league test prior to the El Camino season, the Mustangs will host defending De Anza Division and Central Coast Section Division I champion Milpitas on Sept. 26, 7 p.m.
Knights roll
The King’s Academy scored all of its points in the first half and cruised to a 28-10 triumph over visiting Scotts Valley (0-3).
The Knights scored two touchdowns in each of the first two quarters. Jamey Wilson ran a yard for the first score of the game and senior Maereg Kiros returned an interception 45 yards for another score. Seniors Derek Friske (58 yards) and Mark Miclean (18) added TD runs in the second quarter.
Sophomore Brian Field tagged on all four PAT kicks for TKA, which will take a 2-0 record to Atherton on Sept. 27 for a 2 p.m. contest against Sacred Heart Prep (3-0).
‘Tino, Fremont return
After a bye week, Cupertino and Fremont will hit the road, trying to improve their pre-league records to 3-0 against a pair of 1-1 teams on Sept. 26.
The Pioneers will travel to Overfelt in east San Jose, while the Firebirds visit Woodside. Kickoff for each game is set for 7 p.m.