Los Gatos Weekly-Times Edwards, Smith star in frosh-soph victory Young Wildcats beat Saratoga By Dick Sparrer Scott Downs was disturbed to see his Los Gatos frosh-soph football team come out a little flat against Mountain View a couple of weeks ago. So he told his young Wildcats so. And, boy, did they ever respond. The Cats were anything but flat in last Friday night's 34-6 win over Saratoga that evened Los Gatos's record at 1-1 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. "They came out on fire," Downs said of his Cats, who played well in all phases of the game. "Everything came together." An opportunistic defense helped set up a quick-striking offense. And the special teams were also impressive in the lopsided win. Sophomores Trent Edwards and Derek Smith starred offensively for the Wildcats. Edwards completed four of seven passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns, and Smith carried 13 times for 113 yards and two TDs to lead the Cats to the win. It was an early pass interception by Joey Warren that helped set the tone for the night. A play later--the first play from scrimmage for Los Gatos--Edwards hit Ben Shanker on a 73-yard touchdown pass. It was another key play by Warren that helped set up the Cats' next score. Warren knocked down a pass to stop the Saratoga offense and the Falcons had to punt the ball to Gatos. Just a few plays later Edwards went to Scott Soucy with a 26-yard TD toss, and Jason Rosa kicked the extra point. Soucy and Warren were each returning from injuries, and they served double duty as cornerbacks and wide receivers. "We got out two corners back this week, and it really made a big difference," said Downs. The two, along with safeties Rosa and Markus Willard, were dominant in the defensive secondary for the Cats, according to the coach. Still, the Falcons fought back in the second period. Saratoga scored on a 77-yard run, but Bret Maryon blocked the extra point kick and the Cats took a 14-6 lead in at the half. It could have been more, but Charlie Clark's 75-yard kickoff return for an apparent touchdown was called back because of a clip. Willard ran 19 yards for a third period TD, and Rosa converted to up the Los Gatos lead to 20-6. Smith ran into some hard luck later in the period. He had TD runs of 47 and 21 both called back because of penalties. But Gatos managed two more scores in the quarter. Edwards tossed 41 yards to Kyle Shaffer to set up Smith for a one-yard TD run, and Rosa kicked the extra point. "He has great hands," Downs said of Shaffer. Smith later scored on a nine-yard run and Rosa booted his fourth extra point to make the final 34-6. A 25-yard punt return by Smith had helped put the Cats in good field position. Shanker, Shaffer, Soucy and Smith each pulled in passes from Edwards in the win. Smith led the ground attack with his 113 yards. Ryan Downs supported with 32 yards on eight carries, Willard ran for 27 yards on three tries, Clark picked up 20 yards on seven attempts and Shanker had a couple of carries for 13 yards. "And our offensive line just played great," Downs added, singling out Adam Toeniskoetter, Greg Nielsen, Nick McAlpine, Joe Lynch, Steve Maxson and Randy Riley. Linebacker Mike Vyhnal led the Cats with 12 tackles, and McAlpine chipped in with four stops. "Our linebackers really drove them back," Downs said, praising the work of Vyhnal and McAlpine. He also singled out defensive tackles Matt Benedetti and Riley and defensive ends Maryon and Geoff Sholly for outstanding efforts. Sholly had the club's only quarterback sack. "We have the best defensive tackle in the league," Downs said of Benedetti. "He blew people up. And [Maryon] destroyed their blocking scheme." The secondary of Warren, Soucy, Willard and Rosa teamed for 17 tackles in a solid effort, and the coach also praised the work of back-up corners Brandon Brigham and Peter Kiszka. He added the Chris McMorrow drilled "three real tough to return kickoffs." The young Cats, now 1-1 in the division and 3-2-1 for the year, will head to Milpitas on Oct. 23 for a 5:15 p.m. game with the Trojans. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 21, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.