Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Cats don't want to share the division football title

By Dick Sparrer

Los Gatos wants it all.

The Wildcats have already locked up a share of the football championship in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. But the Cats don't want to share.

They would have to if they lose to Palo Alto on Friday. Los Gatos, Wilcox and Palo Alto would each finish division play at 5-1 and in a three-way for first place. But the Cats don't want to share.

"We know what we have to do," said Los Gatos head coach Butch Cattolico.

What they have to do is win. But the Wildcats know that's no easy task.

Gatos will visit Palo Alto for a 2:45 p.m. game on Friday. And the Vikings have been good enough to run up a 7-2 season record and 4-1 mark in league.

"Palo Alto is a well-coached team, and they're physical," Cattolico said. "They have hard running backs, and they're dangerous."

He also knows that if his Wildcats play to their potential, they could clinch the division crown with a 6-0 record.

"There are a lot of things on the line for us," said the coach, indicating possible play-off implications. But the bottom line is simple for the Wildcats--"We don't want to share (the title) with Wilcox."

They won't if they play the type of defense they played last Friday night against Milpitas in a non-league game, according to the coach.

Los Gatos held the Trojans to just 48 yards on the ground and only 32 through the air on the way to a 21-0 victory over Milpitas.

The win was the sixth straight for the Wildcats, who are 6-3 for the year and 5-0 in the division.

"Defensively, we played extremely well," Cattolico said. "We had some outstanding performances."

Eighteen times Los Gatos defenders dropped Milpitas ball carriers for losses, including eight quarterback sacks. And the Cats forced four fumbles in the game.

"It was one of those nights where our kids really came after them and did a real good job," the coach said.

Enzo Iacomini and Mike Manson led the defensive effort and the awesome sack attack. Iacomini led the squad with 14 tackles and was in on two sacks, and Manson had four sacks among his 10 tackles. He also recovered a fumble.

Austin Glover was in on 11 tackles for the Cats, and Charlie Cucco got in on nine. Fred Luminoso was in on eight tackles, Chris Cavanagh seven, Justin Lehnert six, Austin Neale and Steve LaBarbera five each, and Anthony Fitzgerald and Matt Klemchuk four apiece.

Neale and Luminoso also sacked the quarterback in the win, and Lehnert, John Stengele and Devin Sodt each recovered fumbles.

The defense picked a good night for a super showing, because Los Gatos had just a so-so effort from its offense.

"Our offense really didn't play well," Cattolico said. "The kids were flat. We played just well enough to win."

Alan Rosa still put up big numbers running the football, scooting for 110 yards on 19 carries. And Ryan Sorahan completed seven of 15 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown.

Gatos moved in for a score in the first half to take the early lead.

Cavanagh ran back a punt 16 yards to the Milpitas 40 to get things going. Sorahan tossed 14 yards to Fitzgerald, Rosa carried twice for 14 yards and Stengele ran for five yards to set up Rosa for a seven-yard TD run. Mike Cook kicked the extra point.

But it remained 7-0 through halftime.

"Nobody seemed to be doing anything well," Cattolicos said. "It was a funny kind of game. There didn't seem to be much offense generated by either team."

But Los Gatos went to work to open the second half. Sorahan tossed 15 yards to tight end Vince Posner, and Rosa carried eight times for 48 yards, including a four yard run for a touchdown. Cook converted, and it was 14-0.

"That drive took 612 minutes off the clock in the third quarter," said the coach.

Gatos closed out the scoring when Sorahan hit Fitzgerald over the middle for a 45-yard touchdown pass. Cook's third kick made the final 21-0.

The coach was pleased with the efforts of Cook, a sophomore kicker who took over for Rosa so the senior could rest an injured ankle.

"He handled all the kicking and did a real good job for us," Cattolico said of Cook, who had punts for 41 and 39 yards and "hit some good kickoffs."

Fitzgerald finished the night with three receptions for 61 yards. Posner had two catches for 34 yards, and Stengele caught two balls for 13 yards.

LaBarbera supported Rosa's efforts on the ground with five carries for 26 yards. Stengele carried four times for 21 yards, and Glover twice for 12 yards.

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