Uncommon efforts by Cupertino High running back Bronson Farr and Homestead wide receiver Craig Moberg led their teams to non-league road victories last weekend in San Mateo County.

Farr, a powerful 232-pound senior, ran for 287 yards and three touchdowns in Cupertino's 26-12 win over Hillsdale of San Mateo on Sept. 18.

A day earlier, Moberg made three scoring catches in Homestead's 35-20 win against Capuchino of San Bruno. The 5-foot-10, 165-pounder scored Homestead's first six points on an interception return, then later hooked up with quarterback Jake Mecchi for a couple of TD passes.

Cupertino, now 1-1, plays its home opener on Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m., against Los Gatos. Homestead takes a 2-0 record into a 3:15 p.m. game the next day at Monta Vista (0-1-1), which lost 12-0 to Willow Glen last week.

Two other local teams were shut out last weekend. Lynbrook fell 13-0 to Prospect at Cupertino, and Fremont lost 52-0 at Independence. Fremont (1-1) tries to rebound against visiting Saratoga Thursday night at 7:30 p.m., and Lynbrook travels to Wilcox for a 3 p.m. game on Friday.

Farr leads Pioneers

In Cupertino's win at Hillsdale, junior "flyback" Justin Barnett scored the Pioneers' first points of the season on a 45-yard run, but Farr scored the rest of the points on three long scoring jaunts and a two-point conversion run.

"Farr had an incredible game," Cupertino coach Al Diaz said. "He was breaking tackles left and right."

Senior guards Matt Ravadge and David Hsu teamed up with junior center Gonzalo Garcia to create a lot of running room for Farr at the point of attack. Junior tackles John Liu and Khalid Subainati, senior tight end Mitchell Quinby and senior fullback Kyle Richards also opened holes for Cupertino's runners, which accounted for all but nine of the team's 385 yards of offense.

Free safety Travis Scibetta intercepted a Hillsdale pass and returned it for an apparent touchdown in the second quarter, but a clipping penalty nullified it. Scibetta's pick was just one of many good plays turned in by Cupertino defenders.

Ravadge, the anchor of the defensive line, recorded two of the Pioneers' seven quarterback sacks and knocked down a pass to go along with four tackles. Bobby McDonald, Nick Graham, John Kim, Farr and Hsu also had sacks.

Senior Chris To was the Pioneers' top tackler, making eight from his middle linebacker position. Sophomore defensive back Jimmy Trask had a good game, knocking down a couple of passes.

Moberg leads Mustangs

After Capuchino turned what Homestead coach Charlie Bostic called "two blown coverages" into two long scoring passes and a 12-0 first-quarter advantage, the Mustangs did not hang their heads. Instead, Homestead's defense came up with a long scoring play of its own early in the second quarter.

Moberg intercepted a Capuchino pass and returned it 50 yards for the Mustangs' first score of the day.

"The kids really battled back," Bostic said. "Being a day game and getting down 12-0 early, it would have been easy to play in slow motion and not bounce back against such a hard-hitting team as Capuchino."

Moberg, a three-sport athlete who did not play football last year, scored again late in the period on a 22-yard toss from Mecchi. Tyler Daily booted the second of his five PAT kicks to give Homestead a 14-12 lead at halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Mecchi-to-Moberg combination clicked again for a 10-yard touchdown. Daily's PAT made the score 21-12, and that's how it stayed until the final minute, when 22 points were scored.

Homestead running back Chris Morris turned a fourth-and-eight situation into a 15-yard scoring romp with just 35 seconds left in the game. Morris, who had set up the previous score with a terrific 80-yard run, finished with 146 yards on 25 carries.

After Homestead's kickoff, Capuchino's first play resulted in a long scoring run. A two-point conversion pulled Capuchino to 28-20 with 15 seconds left. Then, with Homestead's "hands team" in the game anticipating a short kick, Cap's kicker pooched his kick over the bunched-up Mustangs. Daily alertly fielded the bouncing ball and raced up the left sideline and into the end zone.

"Unbelievable!" exclaimed Bostic, who had expected the final 30 seconds to be a bit less dramatic.

Aside from Cap's three "big play" touchdowns, the home team found the going tough against Homestead's defense. Inside linebacker Robert Ricana (nine) and lineman Grant Martinez (six) were the Mustangs' leading tacklers. Nose guard Matt Diehl and Marc Robinson also helped shut down Capuchino's running game.

Vikings lose 13-0

Misfortune struck the Lynbrook Vikings Friday night, and it had nothing to do with the 13-0 final score in a loss to Prospect.

Starting quarterback Mike Thurman went down from a big hit with 42 seconds left in the half. After a 45-minute break in the action, he was taken by ambulance to the hospital for precautionary measures. Lynbrook head coach Darrell Williams said Thurman had a slight tingling sensation in the back of his neck and they were taking him to the hospital to check things out. There has been no further word as to the extent of the injury or whether or not he will be allowed to return to action.

The Vikings and Panthers were locked in a scoreless tie at the time, but it didn't remain that way for long. The Vikings attempted a reverse inside their own red zone, but were unable to hold onto the football and the Panthers took advantage. Prospect picked up the fumble and fell into the end zone for the first touchdown of the night.

Not only did Prospect capitalize on one mistake by the Vikings, they were able to get a second opportunity. Only a few plays into the second half, Tony Perez, who took over as quarterback, threw an interception across the middle that resulted in another Panther touchdown.

Despite the turnovers and the 13-0 loss, the Vikings played a tough game. Though they had a few offensive breakdowns, the defense stood strong, allowing Prospect only 82 yards of total offense.

"We moved the ball and made some mistakes that hurt us," said Williams. "We need to focus on the little things. We'll work hard and continue to work hard."

A few players were able to move the ball effectively for the Vikings, though. Running back Austin Fong ran for 26 yards on 16 carries. Not a great day, but he was able to move the ball down the field for this struggling Vikins.

Aside from their attempts on the ground, Lynbrook had a little more success in the air. With just nine passes, the Vikings were able to put together 39 nards. But among those nine passes, two were picked off by Prospect.

Helping the offensive unit move the ball was the Viking line of Khoa Dinh, Ben Shin, Josh Yang, Jason Kaye and Ryan Dormishian.

Kevin Sparrer contributed to this story.