A Dismal Homecoming Against Panorama
The Wolves choke in the second half, losing their fourth game in a row
Oct 9, 2018
The Varsity Football Team looked to end Homecoming Spirit Week with a victory as they played on Friday, Oct. 5 against rival Panorama High School, but it didn’t happen.
The Wolves lost 32-28.
The Wolves defense was energetic from the onset as they forced a fumble on Panorama’s first offensive possession. Linebacker Andy Choto came up with the big recovery allowing the Wolves to gain possession.
Both teams scored rushing touchdowns on their second offensive possession which resulted in an 8-6 advantage for the Wolves.
The second quarter was much of the same story as both teams once again scored rushing touchdowns as Van Nuys entered halftime with a 14-12 lead.
At the start of the third quarter, quarterback Jonathan Phosri helped the Wolves establish their run game. Along with the offensive dominance, the defense held the Pythons to only six points for the rest of the third quarter. The Van Nuys crowd started going crazy as Phosri rushed for 70 yards.
Towards the end, when it looked like the Wolves might snap their four-game losing streak, everything went downhill.
The special teams unit could not field nearly any of the kickoffs. The Pythons took advantage of special teams’ mistakes and grabbed a late 32-20 lead in the fourth.
Jonathan Phosri rushed for another incredible run to cut the deficit to 4 points. However, despite the late heroics, the Wolves fell to the Pythons.
“We need to limit our mental mistakes. We beat ourselves more than they beat us this game,” Senior Andy Choto said.
Final Score: 32-28
NEXT GAME: Van Nuys vs. San Fernando on Friday Oct. 12 @ 7:00 p.m.
