Pythons reached the playoffs for the first time last fall, now take aim at winning the Mission Valley League

Is this the year Panorama High School shreds the "new school" tag it shared with Arleta five years ago, and takes another step toward becoming a respected Valley area prep football program?

Snakes on the field – Panorama seniors Sean Funchess, Arnold Iraheta and Malcolm Thomas expect to lead the Pythons to another Division II playoff berth this season.

Both Arleta and Panorama opened in 2006. Both schools are entering their fourth year of varsity football. But Arleta has already enjoyed tremendous success, winning two East Valley League championships, the Los Angeles City Section Division II championship in 2008, and came within a busted play of reaching the Division II title game last December.

Last year the Pythons reached the Division II playoffs for the first time, losing to Woodland Hills El Camino Real in the first round, and showed legitimate progress. But their overall record was 5-6 and that's the closest the team has come to a winning season.

That could change this year. One reason: Panorama is fielding its first varsity senior class, and could return as many as 22 total players from last year's team. So the Pythons should have their strongest, most experienced team in the school's brief history.

"I think it could be a special year," said running back Malcolm Thomas, a senior. "We've been playing together a long time and we really want it. As seniors we've gotten stronger, and now that we've been playing a long time we can do much better than the other years we've had."

Another reason: Coach Devon Rose believes Panorama is a legitimate contender for the Mission Valley League championship - even a reconfigured Mission Valley League that has added Van Nuys and Canoga Park, and subtracted North Hills Monroe.

Panorama showed its gridiron growth last year by defeating Granada Hills Kennedy, Monroe and Reseda in league and narrowly lost to Sylmar, the eventual league champion. San Fernando was the only Mission Valley team that easily handled the Pythons, but Panorama still finished in a three-way tie for second place.

Rose wants Panorama to stay on the upswing.

"I definitely think this is going to be a pivotal year in our program," he said. "This will be my third season here, and I have a phenomenal group of seniors that are taking charge. Definitely, our goal is to win the league.

"Now it's one thing to say you can win and it's another to do it. For a lot of our kids some of this is still brand new, and I'm talking about understanding the work ethic. They have to understand the competitiveness you have to have day in and day out. Our guys are learning that, and it's been awesome to watch how much our kids have grown. When they step on the field there is a confidence now that, regardless who we're playing, we're going to compete."

Rose pauses for a moment.

"This year I hope we can show that on the field, that we belong, and we're going to show that every game."

Panorama ran the football effectively last year, averaging 293.5 yards per game. The starting offensive line returns intact, and so do the three top running backs - Thomas, Sean Funchess and Darryl Paragas, all seniors. Thomas was the workhorse, rushing for 1,806 yards and 19 touchdowns in 212 carries. He eventually earned Mission League Offensive Player of the Year honors, and was also named to the Los Angeles All-City Division II first team.

But Paragas, with 649 yards and four touchdowns in 80 carries, and Funchess, with 581 yards and eight touchdowns in 84 carries, had their moments. And Arnold Iraheta, a senior, who has been an offensive and defensive lineman but will play exclusively on the offensive line this fall, believes the running backs can all have better seasons.

"Can I see a 2,000 yard season for Malcolm? Possibly," Iraheta said. "The line has been playing together the past two years now. We're stronger, and more together. We could get 1,000 yards for one or both of the other two backs. We're just confident about it. The O-line is more together and smarter now."

Where the Pythons struggled last season was in the air. Departing quarterback Steve Carranza attempted only 65 passes in the season, completing 33 for 318 yards. He threw only one touchdown, and had two interceptions.

Rose doesn't put all the blame on Carranza.

"We knew what we wanted to do running the ball," Rose said. "But what we worked on in the passing game last summer...was [too] separate from our run offense. All of a sudden we come and spread the formation out just to throw the ball, and teams knew exactly what we were doing.

"This year, everything we did in the summer passing leagues we're going to do in the regular season. We do have 'spread' sets, but we've worked it out to fit them in our regular offense. Those spread offenses have variations where we can still run the ball."

Rose describes his offense overall as "kind of a hybrid of the double-wing and the 'fly'" offenses, meaning the team uses plenty of misdirection to try and confuse opposing defenses. "But we can't run all three backs in a power set, and then suddenly switch to a four-receiver set and try to trick you."

Along with a better scheme, Rose needed someone he trusts to execute the passing game. For now he'll depend on junior Enrique Camacho, elevated from last year's frosh-soph team. "He's 6-2, 165, fast, and has a great arm," Rose said. "He just has to learn what the varsity level is like. But he's very athletic, very competitive. He goes in as the number one."Funchess, who checks in at a feisty 5-7 and 180-pounds, said he will do all he can to aid Camacho's development. In fact,

Funchess said, he'll be yapping at every Python underclassmen this summer and fall to raise Panorama's level of play.

"You have to show me you want it as much as [the seniors] want it," Funchess said. "One weak link will mess the whole chain up. If they slack off, I'm on them. And they don't want me screaming at them, so most of the time they get it right.

"We don't want our senior year messed up because they're slacking off, and I'm sure when they get to our position they won't want it either. So we have to push them so we're all on the same page."

Panorama will be tested early in the schedule. There is a threegame gauntlet of Arleta (Sept. 17), Los Angeles Franklin (Sept. 24), and Sylmar (Oct. 1) that could define or deflate the Python's season.

Still, there is a chance for Panorama to escape the shadow of Arleta, and establish its own identity - especially when the teams meet on the Python's home field in September.

"I respect everything Arleta has done," Rose said. "I respect their whole staff and what they do there. Before when Arleta played Panorama, when they walked on the field they knew they would do whnt they wanted to do. Now I think there is a respect that it can be a competitive game.

"I speak with their staff, and they know what we have coming back. I know their kids will always be ready. But I know this year our kids will be ready."

Mike Terry can be contacted at