For the second year in a row, Pacheco High's football team is 2-2 heading into Western Athletic Conference play.</p><p>But not all 2-2 records are created equal, as Pacheco coach David Snapp will tell you after a 47-26 loss to Division II McNair-Stockton last Friday.</p><p>"It was good to see. I think our kids learned a lot. But last year in a game like that, we would have been crushed 56-0 or 50-7," Snapp said. "You could see it after the game, our kids were pissed off -- they felt like they gave one away. Other than the big plays, we were the better team out there.</p><p>"It's night and day the difference between last year's team and this year's."</p><p>Pacheco and McNair carried a 20-20 tie into the fourth quarter before McNair took advantage of a series of mistakes to explode for 27 points. With McNair leading 34-26 and 2 minutes remaining, Pacheco threw an interception on McNair's 2-yard line.</p><p>"We held 'em and had 'em third-and-long, and they threw a 90-yard touchdown pass," Snapp said. "I think that deflated the guys a little more."</p><p>An interception return for a TD as time ran out sealed Pacheco's fate. But the Panthers can take some positives from the game -- notably holding McNair star running back Jonathan Stark to 24 yards on 13 carries, his first sub-100-yard game this season.</p><p>"I think our run defense is real good," Snapp said. "Knock on wood, but we run sideline to sideline and we're hard to block. We play people's run game real well."</p><p>On the other hand, McNair quarterback Cedrick Phillips completed 15 of 24 passes for 492 yards, accounting for more than half of his season total to date.</p><p>"They have some phenomenal athletes. We're not going to see athletes like that again," Snapp said. "We don't have anyone who can keep up with someone like that."</p><p>Still, Pacheco expects to see the ball in the air a lot tonight against Ceres (2-2), the Panthers' first game this season at Veterans Memorial Stadium.</p><p>"We're expecting them, after watching the McNair film, to come out and throw it 40 times," Snapp said. "They throw more than they run anyway."</p><p>Ceres defeated Pacheco 39-6 a year ago, and a much-improved Pacheco team is looking at the game as the venue to announce its arrival to the Western Athletic Conference.</p><p>"We haven't won a league game yet, so we have to prove that we can win one," Snapp said. "I do think we're underlooked, and I want to keep it that way."</p><p><i>Enterprise reporter David Witte can be reached by phone at 388-6565 or by e-mail at sports@losbanosenterprise.com</i>