Frosh-sophers look for big year
By Dick Sparrer
It was quite a year for the football program at Los Gatos in 2000.
The Gatos varsity posted a 13-0 record on its way to winning league and Central Coast Section championships. And the frosh-soph team went 10-0 and won a league crown.
Even the Los Gatos freshman team was undefeated with a 4-0, giving the Wildcats an incredible 27-0 record overall.
But it gives the Cats more than that ... it provides a solid base to work upon in 2001 as they push ahead to try to match the success of a season ago.
The varsity lost some talent to graduation, but has filled in with talented players up from the frosh-soph.
And the frosh-soph lost all of its starters to the varsity. But don't worry about the well being dry at Los Gatos.
"All of our starters from last year have been brought up to the varsity," said Dale Gustafson, back for his second season as the frosh-soph head coach. "But we're returning all of our starters from our 4-0 freshman team. The main difference in this year's team and the last two is that we are going into the season with many unproven players in key spots."
"On the plus side though, we have a couple of guys, Danny Bates and Patrick McDonald, who can score any time they touch the ball," added the coach. "This is a different approach to last year's grind it out team."
Bates will start at tailback for the Gatos offense. The speedster, timed at 4.5 in the 40, will also play strong safety and return kicks.
McDonald is a multi-talented player who is expected to see action at both quarterback and wide receiver on the offensive side, and start at a corner for the defense. He will join Bates as a kick returner.
"I am very excited about the size of our line," said Gustafson. "We have a lot of bulk up front that will help us dominate the line of scrimmage -- the key to any successful football team."
Leading the charge up front will be tackles Ryan Lecznar (6-foot-1, 195 pounds) and Danny Starick (6-foot-4, 285), guards Nick Perrone (6-foot, 193) and Omeed Ghaffarian (6-foot-2, 195) and tight end Mark Ericson (5-foot-10, 185).
It was a stellar defense that sparked the Cats to a perfect season last year. Gatos allowed just eight points a game in the 10-0 season of a year ago.
"Once again we are counting on our defense to lead us," said Gustafson. "Matt Oetinger (defensive coordinator) loves a blitzing all out aggressive defense that really sets the tone for the offense."
Leading the effort will be McDonald, Bates, David Holtzman and Umar Ellahie in the secondary; Lecznar, Ericson and Ghaffarian at the ends; Perrone and Starick at the tackles; and Carlos Bravo and Ivan Batinich at linebacker spots.
Quarterback Kyle Jensen and running backs John Davidge and Matt Miguel are other top prospects back from the freshman team last year, and wide receiver Nick Reimnitz is a talented newcomer.
"He has great hands," said Gustafson of Reimnitz. "We will throw to him a lot."
Gustafson looks for his young Cats to be in the title race in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League again this fall, but also looks to Wilcox and Milpitas as top contenders.
"We will find out very early in the season what kind of team we have with a tough opening opponent in Leland, followed by St. Francis," said the coach. "While our goal is always to win every game, our ultimate goal is to defend our league championship."
"Our expectations and standards are high," he added, "but the real key is to teach these young men the game of football, to practice and play with integrity and to give them a solid foundation in their life."
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
