The Cupertino Courier
Sports
With Backo out, the Mustangs can't hang with powerful Cats
By DICK SPARRER
Brian Backo was off to a great start.
The Homestead running back had 35 yards on five carries, and there were still a couple of minutes left to play in the first quarter in last Friday night's game at Los Gatos.
But it was on his fifth carry that his night of football would come to an end. Backo, who means so much to the Mustangs as a ball carrier and a defensive back, had to be helped from the field after suffering an ankle injury. He wouldn't return the rest of the night.
Still, the Mustangs managed to finish what Backo had started. His two runs for 22 yards had started Homestead on a touchdown drive that Kevin Rogers capped with a 1-yard plunge to tie the game 7-7.
But without Backo on the field, the Mustangs couldn't sustain any sort of drive the rest of the night and ended up dropping a 49-13 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division decision to the Wildcats.
Homestead, 0-2 in the division and 1-5 for the year, will try to get back on the winning trackwhen they host Wilcox on Oct. 20, 3:15 p.m.
The Mustangs threw a scare into the mighty Wildcats by hanging right with Los Gatos for a quarter.
Penalties stopped the Mustangs on their first possession of the night, and Gatos moved in on just five plays to score the night's first TD.
But Homestead came right back.
Shamir Ross ran back the LG kick-off 29 yards to the 30-yard line to get the Mustangs going, then they drove 70 yards on 13 plays to tie things up. A 10-yard run by Ross, a nine-yard run by Rogers and Backo's two runs for 22 keyed the drive that was aided by three Gatos penalties. The backs were running behind an offensive front of tackles Josh Laber and Phillip Birton, guards Jonathon Pique and Matt Power and center Jeff Neale.
Rogers finished the drive when he followed Neale and Power over the right side for the score. Andrew Galen's extra point tied it 7-7 with just three seconds left in the first period.
But the Wildcats took just two plays after the kick-off to score again. They stopped the Mustangs on three plays and a punt, then scored again.
The Cats repeated that formula again to go up 28-7 before Homestead looked like it was starting to move. Rogers had a pair of runs for 14 yards, but the Wildcats recovered a Homestead fumble and turned it into a TD.
After three plays and another Homestead punt, the Cats seemed to be in business again. But Darnel Green thwarted the Los Gatos scoring bid with an interception with just 33 seconds left in the half.
Ross ran 12 yards for a first down after the kick-off, but time ran out on the Mustangs.
Los Gatos scored on its first possession of the second half to go up 42-7 and later scored again to make it 49-7.
Homestead managed one more touchdown late the game. A 19-yard scramble by quarterback Alex Jones, a 10-yard run by Rogers and an eight-yard dash by Ross set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Rogers.
Rogers finished the night with 56 yards on 13 carries and Ross added 51 yards on 15 tries. Backo added the 35 yards on his five first-quarter runs.
Jones and Power led the defensive effort with seven tackles apiece.
