Los Gatos Wildcats out to defend crown
Edwards leads quest for 3rd straight title
By Dick Sparrer
Trent Edwards will get a lot of attention this fall. And well he should. After all, the Los Gatos quarterback made the all-league team after leading the Wildcats to a championship in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. He was all-CCS after leading the Cats to the Central Coast Section Division III title, and he capped it all by winning a place on the All-American high school team.
So whatever attention Edwards may get from the media this fall is well deserved.
But it's not media attention that Gatos head coach Butch Cattolico is worried about. It's the attention that Edwards may get from opposing football teams that has the veteran coach concerned.
Edwards will likely draw a crowd when he drops back to pass, and he'll certainly be the focus of many a Sunday-night coaches meeting. But, then, Cattolico figures that's a pretty nice problem to have. Because he knows what a quality player he has leading his offense this fall.
"Quarterback is where everything will start this year," said Cattolico. "Trent Edwards was all everything last year, setting a standard that even he will have a tough time improving upon."
Enemy coaches will be gearing up their defenses to try to stop him. But the senior quarterback faced that sort of scrutiny a year ago, and all he did was complete 125 of 160 passes for a state-record 78.1 completion percentage.
"Since he has joined the varsity as a sophomore, the team record is 24-1," said Cattolico of Edwards, who threw for 2,550 yards and 29 touchdowns last year and was intercepted only four times. "Yet he honestly looks better this year than he did last year."
Top Returners
With Edwards back at the helm, and comeback starters Chris Willard, Travis Howell, Geno Gingery, Nick Crafford, Dan Holtzman, John Allen and Kenny Heimer all looking strong, Cattolico sees Los Gatos as a title contender once again.
But things won't necessarily come easy for the two-time defending league champs.
"We lost a lot of speed on both sides of the ball from last year's team," said the coach. "We haven't lost a game in two years in league. But we will be tested this year."
Cattolico figures that Wilcox and Milpitas to be among the title favorites and adds that "Palo Alto and Saratoga both should be much improved."
"[They] all should give the Cats a strong run for the title," he said.
Santa Clara joins the division after winning three straight El Camino titles, and Gunn also moves up to the De Anza circuit.
Still, Cattolico likes his club's chances in the coming year, especially with the cast of returners the Wildcats have this fall.
"The quarterback position and the offensive line are our two strengths, along with the defensive line and linebackers," he said. "Running backs and tight ends also appear to be a strength."
Edwards will work behind what Cattolico calls a "real strong" offensive line this season.
Crafford is an all-league returner at left tackle and Allen will start at right tackle.
"[Allen] has just been crushing people in practice," said the coach of the junior starter.
Holtzman returns to start at center for the Wildcats, and veterans Evan McDonald and Ryan Johnson will start at the guard spots.
"The line will have to carry us until the passing game gets time to work together," said Cattolico.
Nathan Fillhardt and Theron McCarty are other top tackle prospects along with Logan Graff, Matt Losch and Ashton Van Tuhl.
Matt Rose, Tom Ferguson, Bryce Murray and David Towson are quality guards who could see plenty of action.
Carter Wallace is the top backup at center.
Top Backs
Running behind that solid offensive front, Willard will be the main threat toting the football for the Cats.
"He was the No. 2 rusher on the varsity last season and appears to be ready for a break-out season," said Cattolico of the senior back, who carried for 45 times for 242 yards and three touchdowns last year. "He looks really strong and very quick to the hole, and the year of varsity experience has really helped him."
Willard's running mate this year appears to be Charlie Clark, who returns to the football field after taking a year off.
"He looks like he is back to his playing form of two years ago when he was most valuable player on the frosh-soph team, and he should see considerable time," said Cattolico of Clark.
But then, Brian Miguel is certainly making a case for himself as a Gatos ball carrier. He was the top ground gainer for the frosh-soph team that posted a 10-0 record last year, and he "has shown some real quickness and is gaining on the two seniors every day."
Pat Michaelsen, Adam Breslin and Jon Cornelius are other backs who could get their share of carries in the coming season.
The Cats also feature a talented cast of fullbacks who "have made the running game look really good so far," said the coach. "They can run, block and catch the ball."
Howell leads the way "as both an outstanding blocker and an excellent receiver," added Cattolico. Dennis Freeman, Barrett Carpenter, Nick Scolari and Jeff Oleson are other top prospects at the position.
Gingery is an all-league returner at the tight end spot. He hauled in 24 passes for 336 yards and six TDs last fall.
"He's also a good blocker with excellent speed," said the coach. "He could play some split end as well."
Stuart Gordon, Scott Drew and Thomas Dittman are others who should see time at tight end.
Los Gatos will have some big shoes to fill at wide receiver, but they have a crew of talented pass catchers for Edwards to shoot for.
"This group actually has more depth than last year, but right now we lack the big play ability of Brian Edwards and Joey Warren."
Scott Cohn and Derek Tam are current leaders at the position, with James Furlo, Brett Cavanagh, Chris McMorrow and Cameron Fee all very solid receivers.
Anthony Fragadakis, Nick Lemon, Charlie Kassees, James Gentry, Andy Betzina and Andrew Willheim "make the wide outs a very deep group," said the coach. "All are working hard for a chance to get in the game and get some playing time with a quarterback like Trent who can deliver the ball on any route with near perfection.
"A real key to the season will be the performance of this group and how they work with the quarterbacks."
Joining Edwards as a passer and team leader for the Wildcats is Alex Rollin, who led the frosh-sophers to that 10-0 season.
"He has looked impressive as the back up," said Cattolico. "Alex was without a doubt the most improved varsity player over the summer."
Getting Defensive
As strong as the Cats are at quarterback and in the offensive line, they possess an equal level of strength at linebacker and in the defensive line.
Howell figures to be a two-way starter for the Cats, and it's at linebacker where he's expected to truly shine.
"He's one of the best young linebackers I've seen in 25 years," said Cattolico of the senior 'backer. "He's a blue chipper.
"He played both inside linebacker and defensive end last year as a sophomore, but will be the anchor inside this year," added the coach. "He's ready for a breakout year."
The Gatos coaches are still trying to determine where to put senior John Espe. He's a returning all-leaguer in the defensive line, but he's currently working at a linebacker spot.
"He's trying to make the move from D line to linebacker," said the coach. "Right now he looks good at linebacker but great at tackle. If he doesn't play linebacker, he will surely make the D line one of the very best around."
Eric Brown, Ben Miller, Dennis Freeman and Perry Richardson are other top linebacker prospects.
Heimer is a comeback all-leaguer at the nose guard position.
"He's the fastest player, as well as the strongest player pound-for-pound on the team," said Cattolico of Heimer. "He will set the tone inside and can run down many backs from sideline to sideline.
Allen, Crafford, Dave Fencl, Johnson, Fillhardt, McCarty, Graff, Van Tuhl , Towson, Murray, Rose and Noah Johnson are others who should see plenty of playing time up front defensively.
Areas of Concern
The secondary and the defensive end positions are probably the areas of most concern to Cattolico and his staff.
"Only Scott Cohn got any real playing time [in the secondary] last year, so this is where the most work is needed," said the coach.
Cohn is the key returner back there and Shaun Sullivan, Fee, Cavanagh, Furlo, Oleson, McMorrow, Frangadakis, Tam, Clark and Betzina are other top prospects in the secondary along with Gentry, Willard, Cornelius, Kassees, Willheim and Lemon.
At defensive end, Andrew O'Gorman and Drew Hoffman are top candidates on the strong side and Gingery and Gordon are leading contenders for the starting job on the weak side.
Others battling for the two spots, which Cattolico says "are still very open," are McDonald, Ferguson, Drew, Anthony Paglia, Dan Milman and Dittman.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
Los Gatos quarterback Trent Edwards will lead the Wildcats in their quest for a third straight league championship.
