Get It While It's Hot: University's Football Team Looks to Keep Winning

A week after ending a 24-game losing streak by winning its season football opener, University High is ready to parlay the success.

The Wildcats (1-0) play host to Panorama (0-2) at 3 p.m. today, and there is a renewed sense of spirit and vitality.

“I told the kids that the losing streak is over, so now it’s time to start a winning streak,” coach Lee Lowe said.

Though Panorama has lost its first two games under new coach Bob Mesa, the visiting Pythons should be respected because they come from a bigger division than last week’s opponent Animo South (City Small Schools compared to City Division II), as Panorama advanced to the section quarterfinals a year ago.

“This is going to be a tough opponent due to the fact they were a D2 playoff team,” Lowe said. “That’s where we want to be in order to win a championship.”

University did a lot of things right last week in its 46-6 opening win, jumping to a 32-point halftime lead, as quarterback Alif Vannah eventually totaled three touchdown passes, Xavier Johnson rushed for more than 100 yards and the Wildcats forced numerous turnovers.

Now the real work begins.

“I pulled Alif aside and reminded him that he is only as good as his last game, and I told my senior lineman, Sebastian Armas, that we shouldn’t be satisfield with 300 yards rushing – we should have had 400,” Lowe said. “I also talked to the defense, especially my linebackers, Myles Jackson, Eddy Aguilar, Brian Rivas and Stephen Lee, and I told them we have to do a better job tackling this week.”

Nevertheless, University is riding high considering it’s been three years since the last victory, a two-point win over Cleveland of Reseda on Oct. 8, 2008. Overall, University entered the season with one win over the past 29 games.

University wants to make as much progress as possible because the next game is going to be really a tough – a Thursday road matchup at powerful Los Alamitos (2-0) of the Pac-5 Division, the Southern Section’s most competitive division. No matter what happens today, in that one University will probably be a 50-point underdog.

First things first, though. The Wildcats are playing a Panorama team that is eager to get a win, as the Pythons have a more challenging schedule than University – the first four opponents on Panorama’s schedule have yet to lose a game – so the visiting Pythons are looking to steal as many victories as they can, and thus they’re probably not going to take University lightly.

Panorama’s top returning player, reigning Valley Mission League defensive player of the year Edgar Delgado, is not around after transferring to league rival Canoga Park. The key players this season are running backs Matt Woodall and Cristian Gonzalez and returning starting quarterback Enrique Camacho.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TODAY

Panorama (0-2) at University (1-0), 3 p.m. -- University looks to keep the momentum going after winning its opener 46-6 over Animo South, the program's first win since 2008.