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Photograph by Lexey Swan
Homestead quarterback Ryan Neale tossed for a touchdown and a two-point conversion in a 24-16 victory over Saratoga last Friday night.
Homestead Mustangs run past Falcons
Pioneers win first volleyball crown
By Dick Sparrer
It had been a long time since the Homestead Mustangs had celebrated a football victory.
Not since September.
Not since the start of the season in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Not since the Mustangs had won back-to-back games in the preseason.
But the Mustangs were celebrating last Friday night after pulling out an impressive 24-16 league win over Saratoga.
And how did the Mustangs beat the Falcons? With their running game.
Homestead played a little power football against Saratoga. The Mustangs ran right at the Falcons, and they ran up over 300 yards on the ground on the road to the victory.
Sophomore Steve Nichols, who started the year on the frosh-soph, carried 25 times for 147 yards, and junior Jaye Sumpter supported with 85 yards on 16 carries.
But it was senior David Tucker who handled most of the ball-toting chores down near the goal line. Tucker scored from the 1 in the first period and followed it up with a two-point conversion run, and he scored from the 4 in the fourth quarter.
Senior tight end Nick Nelson was also in on the scoring act, hauling in a 7-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Ryan Neale in the second quarter.
Sumpter ran for a two-point conversion following Nelson's touchdown, and Neale tossed to Paul Papoulias for a two-pointer after Tucker's second touchdown.
The Mustangs led 16-0 at the half, but the Falcons cut the lead to 16-8 with a touchdown in the third quarter.
The clubs matched touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and the Mustangs had their first win since beating Lynbrook on Sept. 24.
Matadors fall
Dustin Realini snuck over from the 1 for a second-quarter touchdown, but that was all the scoring Monta Vista could manage in a 20-7 loss to Milpitas last Friday night.
A touchdown and a field goal had given Milpitas a 10-0 lead after a period before Realini scored in the second. Leven Naizi kicked the extra point, and the Matadors had cut the Trojans' lead to 10-7.
But Milpitas booted another field goal before intermission to lead 13-7 at the break, then speedster Michael Collins scored his second touchdown of the night in the third to take the game away from the Trojans.
Monta Vista will face Lynbrook in a nonleague game on Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m., at Cupertino to close out the regular season.
Pioneers win title
A win over Gunn got them close, and a win over Santa Clara two days later clinched it... the Cupertino Pioneers have won their first-ever league volleyball championship.
The Pioneers posted two wins last week to improve to 13-1 in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL, good for a first-place tie with Saratoga.
Cupertino wrapped up a share of the title with a 15-3, 15-7, 15-12 win over the Bruins.
"It was an outstanding game for us and a great way to finish," said Cupertino coach Marty Redman.
Of course, the Pioneers aren't quite finished yet. They'll take their 25-5 season record on to the CCS playoffs.
But for right now, they'll enjoy their important win over Santa Clara played before a crowd of 500 fans on senior night at 'Tino.
Sepideh Ghafari nailed 18 points on 21 serves, "which is phenomenal," said Redman, and Pomai Neil was seven of seven serving, including the match point.
Amy Liao came through with an impressive 34 assists, Brynn Zinsman had 16 kills and 15 digs and Margaret Donoghue added 14 kills.
"Brynn was very creative with her hitting," said Redman of Zinsman, who finished at 80 percent overall hitting. "And Margaret was her usual force at the net."
The same night, the Cupertino junior varsity won a championship, defeating Santa Clara to complete a 14-0 league season.
Monta Vista wrapped up De Anza Division play with a split last week. The Matadors lost 15-1, 15-6, 15-13 to unbeaten St. Francis to finish the season 6-6 in the division. But earlier in the week, the Mats had beaten Gunn 12-15, 15-3, 15-7, 15-8 thanks to 19 kills by Heather Janssen and 16 by Kim Vincent.
Dunlap first
Celeste Dunlap of Cupertino outran Michelle Beritzhoff of Los Gatos to the finish line to win the girls title at the De Anza Division cross country finals held last week at the Crystal Springs course in Belmont.
Dunlap covered the 2.95-mile course in 18:49 to finish three seconds ahead of Beritzhoff.
Amy Wong of Cupertino supported Dunlap's effort by finishing sixth overall in 19:58 for the Pioneers. Both Dunlap and Wong won all-league honors for their efforts.
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
