The Cupertino Courier

Sports

Mustangs make the playoffs, Mats just miss

By Mike Barnhart

After some early-season growing pains, Monta Vista's football team matured into a title contender this fall.

In fact, after posting a 27-6, Senior Night victory against Fremont last Thursday, the Matadors needed just one more win to earn the division championship. They needed Lynbrook to knock off division leader Saratoga.

One evening after putting the finishing touches on a 4-1-1 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division season, many Monta Vista players returned to Cupertino, desperately hoping Lynbrook would tag Saratoga with its second division defeat. That would have made co-champions out of Monta Vista and Homestead and sent the Matadors to the Central Coast Section playoffs as the El Camino's automatic entry.

It certainly was a realistic wish, considering previous results in what Monta Vista coach Jeff Mueller calls high school's "black-and-blue division." Lynbrook had beaten Monta Vista in mid-October, and the Matadors bounced back a week later to defeat Saratoga.

But the situation quickly turned hopeless, as Saratoga scored early and often against Lynbrook, en route to a 51-6 victory, the El Camino crown and one of eight bids to the Medium School Division of the CCS playoffs.

With a 5-4-1 overall record and only one win outside of its "C" league, Monta Vista did not have enough power points to earn an at-large invitation into the playoffs. Homestead did, however.

The Mustangs, who upped their overall slate to 8-1-1 with a 48-12 victory over Cupertino on Nov. 9, won all four of their non-league games, two against "A" league teams and two against "B" league teams. They were rewarded for their success with a berth in the Large School Division playoffs. Homestead, the No. 8 seed, will play at No.1 Menlo-Atherton, Nov. 17, 1 p.m.

A league's classification, which is based on the combined records of its members, is recalculated each season by the CCS. The SCVAL De Anza Division has been a perennial "A" league, but the El Camino long has been a "C" league. That hurts El Camino teams, when figuring out which 32 teams from South San Francisco to King City qualify for the playoffs, because the CCS places the most value on a win over an "A" team.

After just missing "B" status prior to this season by .02 of a point in the CCS's League Classification Index system, the El Camino certainly will be deemed a "B" league in 2008, because only two of the seven El Camino teams had losing seasons.

"We've been telling people that the El Camino has good football teams," said Mueller, after Monta Vista's season finale against Fremont. "It's like the black-and-blue division; we all have been knocking each other off this season."

Saratoga (7-3 overall) won the El Camino title with a 5-1 record, Monta Vista and Homestead followed at 4-1-1, with Fremont (6-4) and Lynbrook (5-5) sharing fourth in El Camino play with 3-3 marks.

Moustakas, Rahn
lead Matadors

Monta Vista bounced back from a 35-0 loss at Wilcox by jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter of its win over Fremont.

The Matadors' opening drive stalled near midfield, but they reached the end zone on their next three possessions. Senior running back Matt Moustakas sandwiched touchdown runs of 22 yards and five around a 50-yard scoring pass from junior Justin Rahn to senior Billy Guardino.

Moustakas, who benefited all night from dominant play by his offensive linemen, made the most of his final high school game, posting single-game career bests of 24 carries and 162 yards. He also rambled 31 yards with a third-quarter screen pass. The two touchdowns raised Moustakas' season total to seven and his career count to 13.

Center David Orvick, left guard Kevin Bernstein, left tackle Graham Paterson, right tackle Chris Cantwell and the right guard tandem of Mathew Whittaker and Josh Cornwell all stayed on their blocks, making life easier for Moustakas, Rahn and company.

A short punt to the Matadors' 40-yard line set up the Matadors' second drive. Five runs and four first downs later, the Mats had a 7-0 lead. Moustakas ran four times for 44 yards, including the final 22, through a hole created by Bernstein and Paterson. Guardino chipped in a sweep around right end for 16 yards.

Fremont answered by moving the ball from its 34-yard line to the MV 34. The drive ended with a fumbled hand-off and Bernstein recovered for the Matadors at the 36.

Three Moustakas runs later, Monta Vista had the ball at midfield, setting up a nifty play-action pass over the middle to a wide-open Guardino, who scampered into the end zone.

It was the 12th time this season that the passing combination clicked for a touchdown. Guardino totaled 14 touchdowns this season, after scoring five as a junior last year.

Rahn, who will return next season with all of his linemen except Bernstein, finished the season with 16 touchdown passes and one TD run. The lone scoring romp was a one-yard sneak with 2:11 remaining against Fremont, the Monta Vista's final points of the season. The 6-foot-4 left-hander set up the score with a 46-yard sweep around left end, running from his team's 48 to Fremont's 6.

Rahn, a double threat in his first varsity season, racking up 1,518 yards passing and 448 rushing, played defense in each of the last three games. His first career interception, the ensuing 35-yard return and a 15-yard penalty for a late hit put the Mats on Fremont's 11 late in the first quarter. Moustakas ran in from the 5 with just one second left in the period. Drew Constant's third PAT kick of the game made it 21-0.

For three quarters Fremont did not score, largely because of the defensive work of linebackers Trevor Sambyal and Blake Fitzwater and lineman Orvick. Peter Kosulin, Ji Kim, Bernstein, Tom Axelson, Nick Tong, Samuel Moon, Andrew Kahng, Rahn, Guardino and Hirron Hebron also made plays.

"Controlling the line scrimmage was one of our objectives and we did that, especially in the first half," Mueller praised, "but hats off to Fremont's players--they didn't quit."

Homestead rolls

Senior Kevin Rogers and junior Trevor Greyson each scored two touchdowns, as Homestead whipped Cupertino 51-12 on Nov. 9 at Diesner Field.

It was the Mustangs' fourth win in a row, since a tough, 24-19 loss to Saratoga.

Seniors J.J. Kizine and Darnel Green also had scoring runs, and senior quarterback Rex Blodgett passed 10 yards to junior Tommy McCormick for another score. Aaron Godwin kicked four extra points, and junior Alex Lumidao ran a two-point conversion.