Hard Fall: Prospect's George Brown is surrounded by Falcons in last Friday night's 37-7 loss to Saratoga.




Photograph by Paul Myers







Warriors get Santos a win in opener

Prospect, Del Mar each suffer season losses

By Dick Sparrer

It was his first game as a head football coach, and new Westmont boss Tony Santos couldn't have imagined a more exciting finish for his Warriors.

Westmont trailed Fremont 14-6 in the fourth quarter last Saturday night at Diesner Field, but that's when the Warriors decided to really go to work.

Westmont blitzed Fremont for 22 points in the final period to pull out a 28-14 victory in Santos' first game as a head coach.

Of course, Santos likely was hoping for something of a less exciting way to start his head coaching career. But it was still a great way to start the year, and who else to get the Warriors going than returning all-leaguer Todd Bethke.

The senior sensation returns as a running back and linebacker this fall, and he led the team both ways in last Saturday's win.

Bethke scored a couple of touchdowns and blocked a punt in the final period to help the Warriors claim the come-from-behind win.

Fremont had taken the lead with a second-quarter touchdown, but Westmont pulled to within a point when senior Matt Mills scooped up a fumble and went 30 yards for a score. The difference in the game at the half was an extra point kick.

Fremont made it 14-6 early in the fourth quarter, but that's when the Warriors put together a 22-point flurry to claim the win.

Bethke scored on a 4-yard run, then scored a two-point conversion to tie the game 14-14.

Bethke took off on a 37-yard touchdown run later in the period to give the Warriors the lead, and sophomore defensive back Burt Codera capped the scoring when he picked off a Fremont pass and raced 43 yards for a touchdown.

It was the start to what Santos figures will be a winning season for the Warriors.

The coach looks to Overfelt as the favorite in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League this fall, but he looks for his Warriors to turn around a losing 4-6 record of a year ago and to finish 6-4.

Bethke and Mills top a list of 10 senior returners who Santos figures will lead Westmont to that winning record.

Bethke (6-foot, 185 pounds) and Aremon Habibi (5-foot-10, 215) are top returners at running back and linebacker, and Mills (5-foot-10, 160) and Connor McDonald (6-foot-2, 185) are leading lettermen at wide receiver.

But it's in the line where Westmont boasts the most experience and plenty of size with returners Chris Aimonetti (6-foot-2, 220), Gareth Gorman (6-foot-2, 180), Chad Helmonds (6-foot-2, 300), Duane Kawar (6-foot-4, 280) and Parviz Mossaed (5-foot-9, 245) leading the charge.

Ben Peterson (5-foot-10, 180) is a top returner in the defensive secondary for the Warriors.

Junior Bryen Blankenship (6-foot-4, 210) is a newcomer fighting for the starting quarterback job with Mike DeNardi (6-foot-3, 180), a sophomore transfer from Saratoga.

Senior lineman Chris Biggs (6-foot-2, 220), a transfer from Bellarmine, is another top prospect for the Warriors this season along with tight end Mike Bacciarelli (6-foot-5, 215), linebacker Jacob Goytia (5-foot-8, 175), running back Mike Jiosa (5-foot-8, 185) and defensive back Gabe Regalado (5-foot-10, 165), all juniors, and wide receiver Leon Rosario (5-foot-3, 140) and lineman Sebastian Lopez (6-foot-4, 240), both sophomores.

Santos, in his 11th season as a football coach, has coached previously at Cabrillo, Foothill and Gavilan colleges and Santa Clara and Live Oak high schools. He was Westmont's offensive coordinator last season.

The Warriors will go after their second win this weekend when they visit Lincoln at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15. The Lions are the title favorites in the BVAL's West Valley Division.

Prospect falls

Prospect couldn't match a good start with a good finish in its season opener last Friday night against Saratoga.

The Panthers marched straight down the field for a touchdown on their first possession of the night Friday, but they ended up losing a 37-7 decision to the Falcons at Los Gatos' Helm Field.

Prospect's score actually was something of a scare for the Falcons. The Panthers drove the football 80 yards on 11 plays in their first possession to take the early lead in the game.

But Saratoga's Devin Schrock evened things up in a hurry when he returned the ensuing kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown. That turned out to be the beginning of the end for the Panthers as the Falcons scored on three of their next four possessions to take a commanding lead.

Brent Maselli led the ground attack for the Panthers with 57 yards on 12 carries, and he scored the only touchdown of the night for Prospect to cap a drive that had to please first-year coach Mike Carrozzo.

Maselli carried four times for 34 yards on the same opening drive, including a 10-yard TD run with 7:07 left in the first period. His extra point kick gave the Panthers an early 7-0 lead.

But it wasn't all Maselli on that opening drive. Trevor Rogers ran three times for 14 yards, and Ryan Schaefers added a 12-yard run. More importantly, though, was Schaefers' recovery of a Maselli fumble on the second play of the drive.

The Falcons, though, went on to score 37 unanswered points on the way to the lopsided nonleague win.

Ted Piggins and Schaefers were the top tacklers for the Panthers. Piggins led the club with 10 stops, and Schaefers got in on nine. Maselli, Austin Baumgarten and George Brown were in on four tackles each, Trevor Rogers had two tackles and tipped away a Saratoga pass, Dejuan Quinine and Tony Barba were in on a couple of tackles apiece, and Ted Caskey intercepted a pass.

Tramell Staten, Steven Kong, Roger Meza, Thomas Niemann and Mike Reclusado were also in on tackles for Prospect.

The offensive front of Lance Taulealea, Barba, Baumgarten, Caskey, Nick Quiocho and Andrew Meade led the Panthers to 145 yards rushing.

Rogers supported Maselli's effort with 36 yards on nine carries, and Schaefers added 27 yards on six tries. Kong picked up 19 yards on four attempts, and David Katz carried twice for 14 yards.

Junior quarterback Steven Vidal hooked up on two of four passes, hitting Rogers twice for 34 yards. Adam Day, another junior QB, hit on one of three tosses, finding Brown for nine yards.

The Panthers will go for their first win when they visit Sequoia at 7 p.m. Friday. Sequoia lost its opener 43-8 to Burlingame last Friday night.

Dons lose

Del Mar slipped to 0-2 in the young season after a 30-7 loss to Menlo-Atherton last weekend.

The Dons will try to get on the winning track this week when they host Santa Teresa at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The Saints opened the year with a 27-0 loss to Milpitas last weekend.

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