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Hands in the Air: Westmont senior Ashley Carrothers blocks a hit by June-June Shih of Del Mar in last week's win for the Warriors.
Photograph by Paul Myers
Warriors prove their coach wrong
Westmont's Santos couldn't be happier
By Dick Sparrer
Tony Santos wasn't about to predict a league championship for his Westmont football team this fall.
How could he? After all, he was a first-year head coach taking over a team that had posted a dismal 4-6 record the year before.
So Santos was optimistic yet conservative when he predicted a 6-4 season for his club.
The Warriors, however, have proved him wrong ... and he couldn't be more pleased about it.
Westmont ran its record to 8-1 this fall and 4-1 in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League with a tight 16-15 win over Silver Creek last Saturday afternoon.
Santos was hoping to lead his squad to a winning season, and that is now certain with the Warriors posting eight wins in their first nine games. And with a win this week, they could accomplish so much more.
Westmont has already locked up no worse than a second-place tie in the division, but the Warriors could still get a piece of the title and a trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs if things work out well this weekend.
First of all, the Warriors must win when they host Del Mar Nov. 9, 7:15 p.m. If they do, they clinch second place and virtually lock up a trip to CCS.
But if the Warriors win and Andrew Hill can upset Gunderson on Friday night at PAL Stadium, Westmont could get a share of the league championship. Gunderson secured no worse than a title tie with a 39-15 win over Del Mar last weekend.
All of this was made possible last Saturday when the Warriors pulled out a tight 16-15 win over the Raiders at Silver Creek. Ben Peterson booted a 27-yard field goal in the final minute of play to help Westmont clinch the one-point victory.
Silver Creek drilled a first-quarter field goal to take the early lead in the game, but Westmont went up 7-3 before the end of the period on a 15-yard touchdown run by Mike Jiosa and a Peterson kick.
That's how things remained until the third quarter when Silver Creek scored again to go up 9-7. The Raiders scored again early in the fourth to up their lead to 15-7, but their two missed extra points would end up proving costly.
Westmont cut the lead to 15-13 when junior quarterback Bryen Blankenship tossed a 29-yard TD pass to junior Brian DeWitt. The Warriors went for the 2-point conversion to tie it, but came up short.
That just set the stage, though, for Peterson's game-winning field goal in the final minute of play.
Dons fall to Grizzlies
Del Mar could have helped Westmont last week, but the Dons lost a 39-15 decision to unbeaten Gunderson.
The Grizzlies scored first, but the Dons tied it 7-7 when Eric Bayliss scored on a 1-yard run and Eric Martin kicked the extra point.
It didn't remain a tie for long, though. Gunderson scored four touchdowns before the half to lead 32-7 at intermission, then scored again in the fourth to go up 39-7.
The Dons fought back for one final score in the fourth quarter. Greg Myers pitched a 24-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Eddy, then the two hooked up for the 2-point conversion to make the final 39-15.
The loss left Del Mar 1-3-1 in the Santa Teresa Division and 1-7-1 for the year heading into Friday's game against Westmont.
Panthers winless
The Prospect football team, meanwhile, remained winless last week, losing a 20-18 heartbreaker to Andrew Hill. The Panthers slipped to 0-5 in the Santa Teresa Division and to 0-9 for the year.
Prospect has one last chance to avoid a winless season. The Panthers will visit Overfelt Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m., in the final game of the season.
Zelinski leads Panthers
Danielle Zelinski and Rebecca Palm of Prospect each romped to top-25 finishes when the teams of the Blossom Valley Athletic League got together for their league cross country meet last Monday at Crystal Springs.
Zelinski, a senior, was 24th in 21:12 to lead the Prospect showing at the meet. Palm, a freshman, was close behind in 25th in 21:15.
Prospect's Edina Hamulic was 55th in 23:12 with Jenny Jackson of Westmont 59th in 23:14.
Westmont's Josey Hoult was 60th in 23:16 with Sosina Telda 64th in 23:28 and Liz Medicott 71st in 23:43.
In boys action, Austin Day was 51st in 18:16 to lead Prospect to a team 13th at the finals.
Anthony Lin was 67th in 18:36 for the Panthers with Danny Soloman 78th in 18:51.
Westmont sophomore Andrew Tupper finished 68th in 18:37 with Bo Tran 82nd in 19:01 to lead the Warriors to a team 16th.
Seniors celebrate
The seniors at Westmont celebrated a 15-11, 15-2, 15-0 win over Del Mar in girls volleyball action in the Santa Teresa Division last week.
Over at Prospect, the Panthers finished league play 4-10 in the Mount Hamilton Division thanks to a clutch 7-15, 7-15, 15-4, 15-10, 15-11 win over Oak Grove.
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Campbell, California
