The Cupertino Courier
Sports
Mats roll to division frosh-soph title
By MIKE BARNHART
Excitement on the field and enthusiasm in the community generated by Monta Vista High School's high-scoring football team the past couple of seasons should continue to grow in 2007. After all, talented reinforcements are due from a frosh-soph squad that raced past all challengers this season and captured the championship in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
"The season was fantastic from start to finish," head coach Jeff Thomas said his team's 9-0-1 campaign. "We had several weapons on offense, so no team could key on one guy or take away one thing. Defensively, we just took it to people and allowed 10 points per game."
In fact, the Matadors outscored opponents 334-100. The margin in division games was 211-46. Except for a 28-12 win over Saratoga, they scored at least 32 points in each El Camino game. Other than a 27-27 non-league tie with Wilcox, the Matadors had most games cinched by halftime.
After rolling through the first eight games, Monta Vista finally met its match in week nine against Wilcox. The Chargers led 27-14 before the Mats rallied for 13 points in the last six minutes to tie. A Wilcox player blocked the PAT kick attempt, spoiling Monta Vista's bid for a perfect season.
The Matadors completed their championship run with a 46-13 thumping of Los Altos.
Division coaches recognized Monta Vista's dominance by selecting 14 Mats to the all-El Camino frosh-soph first team, including Nick Tong (Most Valuable Player), Justin Rahn (Most Outstanding Offensive Player) and Jay Voigt (Most Valuable Special Teams Player).
"Nick Tong was all over the field on offense and defense," praised Thomas, who received a lot of coaching help from assistants Jim Hayhurst and Mike Moustakas. "And our quarterback, Justin Rahn, was unbelievable."
Tong ran for 930 yards and 16 touchdowns on offense, and ranked second in total tackles on defense. Rahn passed for 1,139 yards and 13 touchdowns, but tossed just two interceptions. He also ran the ball effectively, earning 237 yards and five touchdowns. On defense, Rahn intercepted five passes and returned one for a score.
Voigt hauled in three interceptions and scored four touchdowns, including two on punt returns.
"We were led by strong offensive and defensive lines that really got off the ball," explained Thomas, noting that first team all-league picks Josh Cornwell, Joe Crosariol, David Orvick, Wes Oberhelman and Graham Paterson often played both ways.
Other all-leaguers were Aaron Turner, Josh Misko, Chris Cantwell, Blake Fitzwater, Chase Hayhurst and Nick Utley.
"Turner led our team in tackles and was our team's defensive player of the year," Thomas said. "Cantwell and Misko helped anchor the defensive line."
In addition to his team-high 35 tackles on defense, Turner was a playmaker on offense. He gained more than 800 rushing and receiving yards and hit paydirt nine times. Fitzwater was the team's top pass catcher, grabbing 17 balls for 488 yards and six scores.
Utley and Hayhurst also contributed on both sides of the ball. Utley, the team's primary kick-off returner, ranked third in rushing and scored four touchdowns. Hayhurst, one of the squad's top tacklers, also carried the ball for two touchdowns.
Placekicker Max Ratkovich chipped in by converting 29 of 38 PAT tries.
"Watching the team play this year was a thrilling experience," observed Ken Orvick, a volunteer varsity coach and a parent of a frosh-soph player. "There is a real sense of community when you are in the stands watching these boys play."
Orvick, one of five assistant coaches in the Monta Vista program that have had sons play at the school, noted that many players had attended elementary and middle school together and played in the same youth sports leagues.
Other team members included Chris Chui, Tamer Ashkar, Matt Whittaker, Ben Chen, Zac Carlsen, Albert Chen, Erik Wendschlag, Kai Ferngm Alex Spurzem, Tyler Brown, Ryan Sullivan, Gabriel Berstein, Nick Byrne, John Eusubio, Will Freeman, Brennan Crawford, Tahir Chaudhry, Amit Sumal, Vijay Sumal, Danny Russo, Robert Rodine, Apoorva Pande, Salmon Khan and Andy Gager.
