The Cupertino Courier

Sports

Kemp's TD clinches win for Lynbrook

By DICK SPARRER

Ray Wright knew just how quickly Cupertino could strike. He'd seen it earlier in the game when Jimmy Trask took off on a 52-yard run, and he'd seen it when quarterback Yuekai Yu broke a 92-yard touchdown run.

That's why the Lynbrook coach wasn't one bit comfortable with his club up just 7-6 and the Pioneers in possession of the football at their own 41 with 1:12 left in Friday afternoon's Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division game.

The last thing Wright wanted to see was a quick touchdown. Check that. The last thing Wright wanted to see was a quick touchdown for Cupertino. A Lynbrook TD ... well, that's another story altogether!

So Wright wasn't one bit disappointed to see senior linebacker step in front of a Cupertino pass and race 38 yards for a victory-clinching touchdown for the Vikings in their 14-6 win.

"I had contain, and also flats on the pass," said Kemp. "I just read it and jumped into the route. And there was no one in front of me."

Kemp saw the screen setting up and stepped in front of 'Tino receiver Kash Erfanian to pick off the pass, and he was off to the races, scoring at 1:04 of the final period, just eight

"I told him to step up and do it, and he did it," said Lynbrook coach Ray Wright of Kemp.

The touchdown broke the backs of the Pioneers, who had jumped back into the game on Yu's touchdown run with 5:26 left to play.

Lynbrook had scored on its first possession of the day, then the clubs slugged it out between the 20s most of the day. The two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter made the outcome exciting in what had been less than a stellar performance by either squad.

"We made too many errors, too many mistakes," said Wright after the game. "But I'm proud of 'em--they didn't quit. I get on 'em, but they did the job. I'm pleased, but I know we can play better."

They'll have to, because the Vikings have a tough test ahead of them as they host Santa Clara on Oct. 13, 7:30 p.m., in a non-league game at Cupertino. The Bruins may have lost four straight games since opening the year with a 23-7 win over Leland, but Santa Clara still remains a formidable "A" division opponent.

The Vikings will take a 4-1 season record (1-1 in league play) into their homecoming game on Friday--the best start for a Lynbrook football team in many years. And it was a good start last Friday that helped the Vikes claim that fourth win.

Actually, it appeared that it was Cupertino getting off to the quick start when Trask had runs of 20, 12 and 11 yards to open the game. But key defensive plays by Kris Gingrich, Yas Sakurai, Bobby Esquivel and David Chen forced the Pioneers to turn the ball over on downs at the Lynbrook 21.

Scott Day ran the Vikings into Cupertino territory on the first play of the game when he broke one 39 yards to the 40. A 23-yard run by Bryan Snyder got the Vikes close, then Kevin Rahbar blasted over the right side for the final four yards on the next play for the touchdown. Jim Baglanis kicked what would later prove to be a key extra point.

Lynbrook quarterback Greg Wallis led the Vikings on that seven-play, 79-yard touchdown drive, working behind an offensive line that included tackles Chen and Jeremy Dance, guards Ben Shin, Mark Tabarez and Bryant Chang and center Esquivel.

The game's first TD came with 2:51 left in the first quarter, and that's how it would remain until late in the fourth period when Cupertino scored, but only after Lynbrook had a golden scoring opportunity.

Mike Hernandez shot through to sack Yu for a 13-yard loss back at the Cupertino 45 to force the Pioneers to punt. But after a bad snap on the punt attempt, punter Scott Savory took off running. Gingrich was there to drop him for a six-yard loss at the Cupertino 39, and the Vikes were in business.

Wallis hit 6-foot-7 tight end Andy Meunier for 12 yards and found Day for 10, but the Vikings stalled at the Cupertino 10-yard line. Baglanis' low field goal attempt slammed into the line, and the Pioneers dove on the loose ball, taking over at their own 8-yard line.

They didn't stay there for long. Yu took the ball on a keeper around the left side and rambled 92 yards for a touchdown. The extra point attempt failed, but the Pioneers had cut the lead to 7-6 with 5:26 left to play.

Rahbar appeared to put the game away with a 47-yard touchdown run, but it was called because of a holding penalty. The Vikings had to punt the ball away, but a poor kick gave the Pioneers great field position at their own 41.

Down a point, Cupertino was forced to go to the air, and that's when Kemp stepped in front of a Yu pass and turned it into six points for Lynbrook. Baglanis converted, and the Vikings had enough for the victory.

Day was the leading ground gainer for Lynbrook in the win, running eight times for 88 yards. Rahbar supported with 56 yards on 14 tries.

Wallis completed 7 of 16 passes for 54 yards, hitting Meunier twice for 24 yards, Day twice for 20 and Rahbar three times.

Yu led all ground gainers with 109 yards on six carries and Trask romped for 99 yards on 12 attempts. Savory chipped in with 27 yards on seven tries.

Yu hooked up on 6 of 11 passes for 31 yards, tossed three passes to Erfanian and one each to Andrew Nguyen, Trask and Savory.

Rahbar was the defensive leader for the Vikings with 10 tackles. Kemp had six stops--two for losses--to go with his interception and Aria Nasiri had a quarterback sack among his six tackles, all of them for Cupertino losses. Sakurai was also in on six stops and Eric Park, Gingrich, Day and Esquivel had five each. Gingrich had three tackles for losses.

Shin, Meunier, George Liaw, Zach Fisher and Wallis were also among the tackling leaders and Chen, Austin Webb, Joe Fernandez, Hernandez and Emre Titizer were in on tackles.

Aris Harutyunyan was the Cupertino tackling leader with nine. Triston Wilkie was in on seven stops and Nguyen, Erfanian and Trask were in on six each. Erfanian intercepted one pass and knocked down another.

Mikey Bednar finished with five tackles, Chris Haley had three and Savory and William Wang added two apiece. Reid Sakino, Jeffrey Nguyen, Max Ingraham, Sean Dickson, Trevor Criddle and Chase Hill were also in on tackles.

The Pioneers, now 1-3-1 for the year and 0-2 in the division, will visit Gunn on Oct. 13, 7 p.m.