Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Wildcats nail first win

Cavanagh stars in Los Gatos victory

By Dick Sparrer

Chris Cavanagh may have other big games for the Los Gatos football team this fall, but he won't have game any bigger than the one he played last Friday night for the Wildcats.

Cavanagh led all Los Gatos ball-carriers, all receivers and all tacklers. But most importantly, he led the Wildcats to their first win of the 1998 season.

"He had a real big game for us," said Los Gatos coach Butch Cattolico of Cavanagh. "He was outstanding in all phases of the game."

Cavanagh scored a touchdown and set up two others in leading the Cats to a thrilling 31-21 come-from-behind win over Leland.

The win helped the Wildcats improve to 1-2 for the year as they prepare for their opener in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this week. Gatos will take on unbeaten Wilcox on Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m., at Santa Clara's Townsend Field. The Chargers are 3-0 after pounding Mountain View 55-0 last Saturday.

Cattolico is hoping that the win over Leland will give the Wildcats a little momentum as they head into Friday's game. It certainly can't hurt.

"The kids played really well, especially in the second half," Cattolico said of his club's showing against Leland. "I hope we made a step in the right direction, anyway."

They certainly did in at least one area. The Cats had just one sack and had created no turnovers in their first two games of the year, but came through with four sacks and three turnovers against the Chargers.

"That was a big plus for us," the coach said. And so was the performance of Cavanagh.

The senior sensation carried the football five times for 100 yards to lead the ground attack, and he pulled down four passes for 47 yards. As if that wasn't enough, he led the defensive effort with 11 tackles.

Senior quarterback Ryan Sorahan also had a big night for the Wildcats. Sorahan completed 17 of 23 passes for 182 yards and a couple of touchdowns.

"Ryan and Chris both played extremely well," Cattolico said. "And that's important, because they're two kids we're going to have to count on."

Gatos counted on the two against Leland, and they led the Cats to a come-from-behind victory.

The Chargers opened up a 14-0 lead in the first period, largely because of the performance of senior quarterback Richard Tillman. He set up his own 17-yard touchdown run with a 55-yard pass, and he also threw 43 yards for a TD.

"There were two important things we had to do in this game," Cattolico said. "Obviously, we had to play better. But defensively, we had to keep their quarterback in the pocket and keep him from rolling out." But the Cats didn't, and Tillman took advantage of the opportunity to lead Leland to a pair of scores.

That's when Cavanagh went to work. The senior broke a reverse 54 yards to the Leland 15, and three plays later Justin Narragon went eight yards for a touchdown. Mike Cook kicked the extra point to cut the lead to 14-7.

"It was a very impressive run," Cattolico said. "Our offensive line blew all of their defensive linemen back into the end zone."

It was the story of the night up front. Los Gatos dominated the line of scrimmage most of the night, and especially in the second half. The coach praised the work of tackles Matt Klemchuk, Mike Belsheim and Philip Masleid, guards Austin Neale and Kevin Mullen, center Kellen Durose and tight end Troy Towner.

"The line did a real good job," said the coach. "And in the second half, they really took charge of the game."

The Cats picked a good time to force their first turnover of the year a few moments later. Klemchuk dove on a Leland fumble, and Gatos had the ball near midfield.

Cavanagh broke another reverse 32 yards deep into Leland territory.

The Cats moved to the eight, but faced a fourth down. Sorahan went to the air to hit Cavanagh for a touchdown, and Cook's kick tied the game 14-14.

But just when Cattolico thought his team had grabbed the momentum, Tillman broke around end for 80 yards and a score.

Gatos finished the half with a touchdown drive, though. Sorahan hooked up on four of six passes, Narragon carried three times for 16 yards, Brandon Fennema twice for 16 yards and Matt Grover once for 11 yards.

But once again, the Cats faced a crucial fourth-down play. This time Sorahan hit Kevin Krug for nine yards and a first, and three plays later Fennema pulled in a 12-yard scoring toss from Sorahan. Cook's third kick tied the game 21-21 at the half.

Gatos came out and took control in the second half. Cavanagh caught a 25-yard pass from Sorahan to set up a five-yard touchdown run by Narragon to put the Cats up 28-21. Max Hirschman picked off a Tillman pass to get Gatos the ball back, and Cook ended up drilling a 46-yard field goal to close out the scoring.

Cavanagh led all receivers with his four catches for 47 yards. Fennema snagged four passes for 32 yards, Krug caught three for 28, Hirschman grabbed three for 23, Adrian Rangel caught two for 32 and Aaron Wagman caught one for 20.

Narragon and Fennema combined for over 100 yards rushed. Narragon carried 15 times for 76 yards and Fennema ran 14 times for 57.

Cavanagh led the Cats defensively with his 11 tackles and Fennema was in on nine. Durose got in on eight, and Neale and Kenny Troquato-Perrotti six each.

Briston Lowry had a couple of sacks among his five tackles, and Ben Winkleman had five stops. Klemchuk had four tackles, including a sack, and Chris Brown had a sack among his three stops.

Rangel, Towner, Hirschman, Mike Harris, Mullen, Brandon Chapatte and Andy Housley were also in on tackles.

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