By Dick Sparrer
Butch Cattolico tried to convince his Los Gatos football players that Palo Alto was better than its 1-2 record.
The veteran coach tried to convince his Wildcats that, despite their 44-3 loss to Mountain View the week before, the Vikings were a solid football team.
That's OK, though--because Palo Alto did.
The Vikings gave the Cats all they handle and then some before falling 17-7 in the De Anza Division opener for each club.
It took a solid first-half performance by the Vikings for the Wildcats to understand that there is no week off in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
"The kids seem to come alive in the second half," Cattolico said after his club turned a 10-7 halftime lead into a 17-7 victory. "They realize now that they're not going to be able to walk through this league.
"Looking at the scores last weekend, no one is going to walk through this league."
There is certainly parity in the De Anza Division this fall, especially after last weekend's games.
Los Gatos struggled to beat Palo Alto, Homestead scored a third-period touchdown to edge Saratoga 7-0 and Monta Vista beat Wilcox by just over a touchdown 21-12.
Gatos improved to 2-2 with the victory, and is 1-0 for the year heading into a division week off.
But that week off is certainly no vacation. The Cats will head to Foothill College in Los Altos Hills on Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m., to face El Camino Division favorite Mountain View. The Spartans are 4-0 after a 25-18 win over Gunn last Friday.
Gatos scored just once in the second half, but the Wildcats held the Vikings to just four yards rushing and only 41 yards of total offense in the final two periods.
"We really shut 'em down in the second half," Cattolico said. "They were in our territory just once in the second half."
The coach praised the work of John Stengele, Justin Lehnert, Mike Schnitzer, Chris Cavanagh and Reny Townsend for their efforts in the secondary.
Cattolico was also impressed with the work of Austin Neale, Charlie Cucco, Doug Miller and Enzo Iacomini up front defensively.
Neale was in on eight tackles, including a couple of quarterback sacks for the Cats.
"He played a really good game," Cattolico said of Neale. "He put a lot of pressure on their quarterback."
Cucco led the Wildcats with nine tackles, and Iacomini was in on eight, including a sack. Steve La Barbera got in on six tackles, including a sack, and Cavanagh and Carlos Lanuza were in on five each.
Cavanagh and Joel Gremore got in on four tackles each, Townsend and Jeremy Malander were in on two apiece and Austin Glover got in on two. Malander also had a quarterback sack.
Alan Rosa led the offensive show for the Cats with 175 yards on 24 carries, and Josh Rogers completed 8-of-10 passes for 146 yards.
It was Rosa and Rogers leading the Wildcats down the field to a first-period field goal. Rosa carried three times for 29 yards, and Rogers hit Gremore for 17 yards and Townsend for 39. Rosa booted a 24-yard field goal that gave the Cats a 3-0 lead.
Palo Alto scored midway through the second period to go up 7-3.
"I think that kind of woke us up a little bit," the coach said.
The Cats came fighting back before intermission to regain the lead.
Rosa carried three times for 29 yards, La Barbera had a five yard gain and Rogers went to Gremore three times for 55 yards to move Gatos down the field. Rosa capped the drive with an eight-yard TD run and kicked the extra point to make it 10-7.
The Wildcats took control of the game in the second half.
Rosa ran six times for 38 yards, including a 20-yard run, and Rogers tossed to Gremore to 10 yards to move the Cats into scoring position. Rogers went to Malander for 15 yards and the insurance touchdown, and Rosa converted.
"The complexion of the game kind of changed after that touchdown," he added. "They gave up their running game, and we went more to our running game."
The Wildcats ate up the rest of the clock for the exciting victory.
"If you're not looking at it as a coach," Cattolico said, "it was a really good football game."
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 9, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved