This edition of the Sweet Home football team is not as experienced as last year's state Class A championship outfit. That's a given considering the Panthers have a new offensive line, a new signal caller and are without last year's stud running back Deshanaro Morris.

Still, while the current Panthers may be a little more mistake prone than last year's perfect outfit at the moment, they still appear to be scary good.

Quarterback Pat McMahon finished with three touchdowns, while Sweet Home's defense kept visiting Clarence under wraps in opening the season with a 35-16 nonleague win Saturday afternoon before an estimated 1,500.

Sweet Home's win means all four defending state champions opened 2009 with victories. On Friday, Orchard Park and Maple Grove won in nail-biting fashion, while Southwestern won via blowout.

By the time Clarence reached the end zone, the Panthers had already turned this clash into a rout in securing the program's 14th straight win.

McMahon (7 for 15, 105 yards) scored on runs of 6 and 21 yards to give Sweet Home a 14-0 halftime lead. After a Rob Nieman 5-yard TD run, McMahon threw a 22-yard scoring strike to D.J. Nettles.

The Panthers held the Red Devils to 150 yards, with Kyle Luchey recording a pair of interceptions and Josh Perez recovering a fumble. Sweet Home finished with 259 yards rushing, 364 in total offense.

"We played a good game for the first game of the year," winning coach John Faller said.

Sweet Home had an emotional beginning to its season with Morris, last year's star running back, serving as a captain during the coin toss. Morris' promising football career ended last January after he was paralyzed in a car accident. Morris also spoke to the team during halftime, according to Faller, who added that the Panthers have dedicated their season to him.

St. Francis 25, Bethlehem (Pa.) Catholic 21: The defending Monsignor Martin Association large school playoff champions rallied from an early 21-0 deficit behind three touchdowns by receiver Roland Kerr. Kerr, who began the comeback by returning a kickoff 87 yards for a score, gave the Red Raiders the lead for good by catching a 10-yard TD from Mike Chuchla with 6:55 left. Kerr caught five passes for 86 yards and also had a 35-yard TD reception. Chuchla, in his first varsity start, completed 12 of 19 passes for 168 yards.

Last year, St. Francis opened 0-6 due to injuries and offensive line issues before winning four of its last five games.

"For a first-game performance, I'm very happy with how the team played. They responded being down 21-0," Red Raiders coach Jerry Smith said.

St. Joe's 40, Niagara Falls 19: The Marauders pulled away from Niagara Falls after Durrell Crittenden's 60-yard punt return TD pulled the hosts within 20-19 in the second quarter. St. Joe's quarterback Matt Rosenhahn (9 for 18, 173 yards; 14 carries for 67 yards) had a huge game, throwing TD passes of 8, 57 and 17 yards and scoring on a 1-yard quarterback keeper late in the first half to spark the Marauders' 20-0 closing blitz.

Jack Cambria, Mike Green and Christian Didas all recovered fumbles for the Marauders, while Dominic Bargnesi led the winners with eight tackles.

Dale Stewart scored on an 85-yard kickoff return and caught a 59-yard TD from Bruce Hartinger for the Wolverines.

Lancaster 49, Kenmore West 7: Quarterback Justin Juda and the Redskins proved to be too much to handle for host Ken West. Juda finished with four touchdowns, including three passing TDs during a 10-of-13, 219-yard performance. Juda threw scoring strikes of 26 and 98

yards to Andrew Mrozek (three catches, 128 yards) and a 29 yarder to Eric Rindo. Lancaster churned out 332 yards in offense while limiting the Blue Devils to 198.

Niagara-Wheatfield 21, West Seneca West 13: Ken Alexander intercepted a pass with 18 seconds left and returned it 55 yards for a TD as the Falcons made a winner of Dave Hack in his coaching debut. Early in the fourth, N-W's defense forced West Seneca West to fumble the ball out of its end zone for a safety to break a 13-13 tie. William Cody had 113 yards on 20 carries. QB Michael Hardy threw for 104 yards and a TD.

Cleveland Hill 24, Maryvale 6: Bragging rights in this Town of Cheektowaga battle went to Cleve Hill as Dennis Thomas rushed for 103 yards on 20 carries and also recorded an interception. Ron Lawrence rushed for two scores and a conversion. Jacob Zielinski had 12 tackles and a sack.

Sherman 20, Forestville 19: Jacob Horstman (11 rushes, 118 yards) ran for a 33-yard touchdown run with a minute left and lineman/kicker Cody Graczyk added the extra point to get the Wildcats started with a victory. Matt Thompson was 10 of 17 passing for 213 yards for Forestville while Nick Huyck had 104 yards on five catches, including a 36-yard score.

Clymer 26, West Valley: 20: Neil Heil's third TD of the game provided the winning points for Clymer. He scored on runs of 21, 1 and 5 yards. Ben Boeoger scored on TD runs of 57 and 4 yards for West Valley.

Class A

West Seneca East 14, Starpoint 0: Bill Fildes rushed for 121 yards, scoring on runs of 2 and 77 yards in the win. West Seneca East rushed for 350 yards and preserved the shutout with a goal-line stand at the end. Brendon Tobolisky had five tackles and an interception, while Josh Omanski rushed for 105 yards on 10 carries.

Lake Shore 24, Kenmore East 14: Patrick Gilman caught a 45-yard TD and rushed for a 5-yard score for the Eagles. Matt Kennedy also had a TD in the win, rushing for 161 yards on 32 carries and adding seven tackles on defense.

Class B South

Lackawanna 12, Olean 7: Junior John Brown (29 carries, 145 yards) followed a block by freshman tackle Javon Smith and sprinted to a 37-yard touchdown run for the Steelers with 4:59 left in the game. Christian Cheatom caught five passes for 75 yards and also forced a fumble to end Olean's drive in the final minutes.

Class C North

Eden 50, JFK 0: Julian Bermington had three interceptions, including a school record 101-yard interception return, as the Raiders trounced JFK. RB Alex Shea and Bermington scored three TDs each. Shea finished with 108 yards on seven carries. Sam Lewandowski led the defense with eight tackles, as the Raiders led, 43-0, at halftime.

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Buffalonews.com is the place to catch all of the high school football action from opening weekend.

Scores will be updated at buffalonews.com all night Friday as well as on Saturday afternoon and evening throughout the season.

On Twitter, follow Prep Talk and you'll get the scores as they are reported to us right on your phone. See twitter.com/bufnewspreptalk.

The Prep Talk blog will be updated throughout the weekend with highlights and insights by News Sports Reporter Keith McShea. It started with the "Friday Night Live" post, which features photos and videos from three season openers.

Check out live blogging and video of postgame interviews from

http://blogs.buffalonews.com/preptalk/2009/09/live-from-will-south-at-grand-island.html">Williamsville South's win over Grand Island.

Headed out to a game? Let us, and your fellow fans, know what you thought of the action, the players, even the hot dogs. Make your call in Prep Talk's comments section.

Check out a photo gallery from opening night with images taken by The News' Mark Mulville, John Hickey and James P. McCoy.