The Cupertino Courier
Cover Story
Photograph by Vicki Thompson
Speedster Marcus Woo returns to the backfield for Monta Vista this fall. The two-time all-leaguer will lead the rushing attack once agains for the Matadors, and is also a favorite target for quarterback Alex Atkins.
Fall Ball
The boys of autumn begin the high school football season
By MIKE BARNHART
Not one to rile up the opposition, Monta Vista head coach Jeff Mueller was not about to make any daring predictions for the upcoming season. Instead, he stated what should already be common knowledge to opposing coaches: "We will be experienced offensively and again we will be exciting to watch."
Eight of the 10 teams on Monta Vista's schedule played the Matadors in 2005, and they likely have first-hand information about Monta Vista's spread offense and its chief engineers, seniors Marcus Woo and Alex Atkins. But, for those new to local high school football wars and others short on recall, here is a quick memory jogger.
Monta Vista put at least three touchdowns on the scoreboard in all but three games last season, while racking up a 5-5 overall record and a 3-3 mark in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's El Camino Division. Woo, a first-team all-league wide receiver the past two seasons, and Atkins, a strong-armed, 6-foot-5 quarterback, accounted for many of them. The duo showed its explosiveness in a 42-24 pre-season win over Prospect. Atkins completed 11 of 17 passes for 294 yards and five touchdowns in that game, 267 yards and four scores coming on eight connections with Woo.
Atkins, who passed for 200-plus yards in three games last season, missed the final two games due to a concussion. Woo (5-foot-8, 165 pounds) moved to quarterback and filled in admirably, posting three-touchdown games in victories over Gunn and Cupertino. In the season-ending "Helmet Game" against the Pioneers, Woo broke off long TD runs of 90, 64 and 68 yards.
"Alex has a very strong arm and we try to utilize Marcus' speed and talent wherever possible," Mueller explained. "With them, we can really put up some numbers against some teams.
"We're not very big usually, so we like to spread the other team out and confuse them with a lot of little guys running around. You never know what people will do to defend us."
Typically, Monta Vista will line up four receivers on the flanks for Atkins: Woo in the left slot inside of junior wideout Billy Guardino (5-foot-10, 175) and senior Kota Kojima (5-foot-9, 175) slot inside of senior wideout John Solórzano (6-foot, 175) on the right side.
Up from the JV team is junior Max Rickman (5-foot-7, 155), who is expected to back up the receiver positions. Other receiver candidates are senior lettermen Dominic Camilleri (5-foot-9, 165), Josh Erwin (6-foot, 175), Jason Halverson (5-foot-10, 150), James Kahng (5-foot-9, 165) and Mazyar Kahali (5-foot-10, 165).
Lining up in the backfield behind Atkins will be junior fullback Matt Moustakas (5-foot-11, 175), the Most Valuable Back last year in the El Camino Division's frosh-soph circuit.
"He's going to do some good things for us," Mueller said. "He will be the one we call upon to get the tough yards."
Providing the protection up front will be an experienced group of linemen, according to the coach. Led by center Bryan Frediani, an all-league honorable mention pick in '05, the Matadors' offensive line will feature five seniors who received considerable playing time. Slated to join Frediani are guard Mike Moustakas (6-foot-2, 240) and tackle Chris Kong (6-foot, 225) on the left side and guard Ahmed Salmon (6-foot-1, 220) and tackle Ahmed Naguib (6-foot, 230) on the right. Should any of them need a break, Mueller can turn to senior letterman Danny Park (6-foot-1, 275) or junior Sammy Moon (6-foot, 225), a first-team all-leaguer at the frosh-soph level.
Mueller hopes the return of first-team all-leaguers Kojima and Peter Kosulin (6-foot-1, 195) will compensate for a relatively inexperienced group of defenders. Returning senior lettermen who have been installed as defensive starters are Ruby Murgesan (5-foot-10, 195) and Trevor Sambyal (6-foot, 185) at the ends and Park and Mike Moustakas at tackle.
Junior Matt Moustakas (nose guard), will start alongside his older brother on the defensive line, while Kevin Bernstein (5-foot-10, 195) and Kosulin give the Matadors a pair of junior linebackers. Free safety Andrew Kahng (5-foot-7, 155), a junior up from frosh-soph, and Guardino (cornerback) will join Kojima in the defensive backfield.
Junior Luis Nunes (6-foot, 165) will handle most of the kicking chores.
Mueller praised the team's off-season conditioning program, directed by P.E. teacher and frosh-soph head coach Jeff Thomas.
"Several returning seniors had a great off season in the weight room," Mueller said. "Kong, Frediani, Kojima and Moustakas all are bigger and stronger."
The Matadors hope that added strength helps them push around opponents when the season begins, Friday, Sept. 8, against visiting Yerba Buena. The game is set for Cupertino at 7:30 p.m. After non-league road games at Willow Glen and Prospect, Monta Vista will open El Camino Division action Sept. 29 at Cupertino.
The continuation of the "Helmet Game" rivalry with the Pioneers will be the first of six El Camino Division games for the Matadors. The league schedule includes Homecoming, Oct. 20, against Lynbrook and Senior Night, Nov. 9, against Los Altos. Monta Vista's home games are played under the lights at Cupertino High.
"The league favorite should be Saratoga," Mueller said, referring to the Falcons, who dropped down from the De Anza Division after a sixth-place finish of 1-5 last season. "If Saratoga can't do it, then I think the championship will be up for grabs."
Backo back to lead Homestead offense in race for playoffs
By MIKE BARNHART
Homestead's football players and staff were more than ready to get started with double days in mid-August. After all, the twice-a-day practice sessions that customarily usher in a new season provided the Mustangs with a bonus this summer. An up-and-down 2005 season--only one league win and a 4-6 overall record--was officially buried.
"The team will be improved from last year and should be able to compete in the top half of the league," head coach Charlie Bostic declared after the weeklong training camp.
One of the encouraging aspects of the 2006 season, according to Bostic, is the competition at the quarterback position between senior Alex Jones (6-foot-1, 185 pounds) and junior Rex Blodgett (5-foot-9, 170).
"Jones and Blodgett add athleticism to the quarterback spot, something we have not had in a while," said Bostic, who is in his sixth season as Homestead's head coach.
Jones was a starting defensive back in 2005, while senior Gareth Pack took the bulk of the snaps for the Mustangs. Meanwhile, Blodgett was the signal-caller for the frosh-soph quad.
Homestead can expect strong senior leadership this fall from two-way starters Matt Power (6-foot, 200), Brian Backo (5-foot-7, 175) and Shamir Ross (5-foot-7, 165), according to the coach.
"Matt Power is the leader of the defense and the team," Bostic said. "Backo and Ross will add speed and experience to the running back spots."
Power, Backo and senior lineman Josh Laber (6-foot, 235) all will be starters for the third season in a row, and they seldom will leave the field.
Power will lead the defense from his linebacker post and hold down a spot on the offensive line. Backo, who earned first team all-league recognition in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League for his work at running back last season, will start in both the offensive and defensive backfields. Laber will anchor both lines.
Like Backo, Ross will be a two-way starter again, logging a lot of time in both backfields. Other returning starters are senior tight end Tim Vanderet (6-foot-5, 230) and junior nose guard Johnathan Pique (5-foot-9, 225). Vanderet also will see time at linebacker, and Pique will be a factor on the offensive line.
Sophomore Alex Lumadoa (5-foot-9, 185), who played frosh-soph in 2005, is expected to challenge for playing time at a linebacker position.
Areas of concern for the 2006 Mustangs are a lack of depth on the line and the overall size of the squad. But, as Bostic noted, "We have good speed, which should offset our lack of size."
Homestead's only win in the De Anza Division of the SCVAL last year was against Saratoga, which also finished 1-5, but dropped down to the El Camino Division for this season. The Mustangs squared off with the Falcons in the first pre-season test on Sept. 1.
Bostic figures Los Gatos and Palo Alto to have the best chances of winning the division. "We will be battling for the third playoff spot," he predicted, along with Wilcox, Mountain View, Milpitas and Santa Clara.
Cupertino is loaded with seniors,
but Pioneers have to stay healthy
By MIKE BARNHART
What Cupertino's football team lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. First-year head coach Kyle Fitzpatrick just hopes the senior-laden squad can stay relatively healthy.
"We're competitive at each position with a lot of talented athletes, but we have little depth," Fitzpatrick said as the Pioneers approached their 2006 season opener Sept. 1 at Yerba Buena. "Hopefully, this season we'll get lucky, as far as maintaining players' health."
Luck was not on Cupertino's side in late August, as minor injuries depleted its roster to the point where Fitzpatrick and his staff decided to cancel a scheduled scrimmage with Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco.
"We only had 18 players in one practice and 14 in another," Fitzpatrick recalled. "We just had too many key injuries. We could have moved kids around to different positions to cover the holes, but we were concerned that things could get worse."
Since then, the medical situation has improved, a couple of players have been brought up from the frosh-soph squad and few others have been late additions to the Pioneers' 35-player roster.
He knows it is a big "if," but "if we can stay healthy, we hope the players can improve over last season," said Fitzpatrick, noting Cupertino's 2005 records of 2-8 overall and 1-5 in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League last fall. "It was a young team last year, so this year we are fairly senior-loaded."
Among the 19 seniors on the 35-man roster is quarterback Yuekai Yu (6-foot, 175 pounds), who earned second team all-El Camino Division honors last year.
But Yu, who passed for more than 1,035 yards and 11 touchdowns as a junior, lost two major targets--Travis Scibetta and tight end David Warren--to graduation. Instead, his primary targets likely will be wide receiver Kash Erfanian (5-foot-10, 155) and tight end Chase Hill (6-foot-2, 215), a pair of seniors.
Rushing leaders Jimmy Trask (5-foot-10, 175) and Scott Savory (5-foot-10, 220) also return for their final high school season. Trask ran for 638 yards and eight of his nine touchdowns in 2005, while Savory romped for 369 yards and four touchdowns.
The offensive line that will be protecting Yu from opposing pass rushers and opening holes for Trask and Savory includes three returning senior starters, tackles Max Ingraham (6-foot-2, 240) and Tristan Wilkie (5-foot-9, 200) and center Chris Haley. Junior Reed Sakino (5-foot-10, 220), a part-time starter in 2005, will man one of the guard spots, while junior Trevor Criddle (5-foot-11, 200) or sophomore Tyler Stenson (6-foot-3, 245) line up on the other side.
On defense, Erfanian and fellow senior Aris Harutyunyan (5-foot-10, 160) will man positions in the secondary. Last season Erfanian (64 tackles) and linebacker Mikey Bednar (60) finished second and third on the team in total tackles. Another defensive back hopeful is senior Jeff Nguyen (5-foot-11, 170).
"Nguyen is a pure athlete who can develop into an excellent player," said Fitzpatrick, who was an assistant to James Gilmore on the 'Tino frosh-soph in 2005. This season, Gilmore--along with Keith Mello, Terry Irish and Scott Green--is helping Fitzpatrick on the varsity.
Cupertino's home opener, Sept. 16 against Wilson Prep of Oakland, follows road games at Yerba Buena and Sobrato of Morgan Hill, Sept. 8, at Live Oak High. After a bye week, the Pioneers will battle Monta Vista in the annual "Helmet Game," the first of six straight weeks of league play. They conclude the campaign with a non-league affair against Milpitas of the De Anza Division.
