Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Cattolico teams head to playoffs

Cats clinch league title

By Dick Sparrer

Things weren't much different in the Cattolico household than they were in most Los Gatos homes last Sunday.

The television set--or maybe a couple of television sets--were tuned in to football.

OK, maybe it was just a little different.

Because like most other football fans in Los Gatos, Butch and Joe Cattolico spent most of the day on Sunday watching football on TV. But unlike most other football fans in the Los Gatos, the Cattolicos weren't watching the San Francisco 49ers play Carolina--they had their televisions hooked to VCRs to watch the Aragon and Prospect football teams on videotape.

Because Butch and Joe Cattolico aren't just football fans following the 49ers--they're football coaches preparing for the Central Coast Section playoffs.

Both their clubs have qualified for post-season play, and they spent the day Sunday getting to know their first round opponents.

Joe Cattolico, a former star quarterback at Leigh, is a first-year head coach at Overfelt. His Royals earned a spot in the CCS Division II playoffs, and they open play on Nov. 21, 7 p.m., against Prospect (9-0-1) at Westmont.

But Butch Cattolico won't get a chance to watch his son's first CCS game--he'll be a little busy.

The veteran Los Gatos football coach will lead his Wildcats into action against Aragon in the first round of the CCS Division III playoffs the same night at the same time.

The Cats host the Dons on Nov. 21, 7 p.m., in what promises to be a competitive first-round game.

"Aragon is an outstanding football team," Cattolico said of the 7-3 Dons. "I'm impressed with what I've seen on the films I've been watching. We've got out work cut out for us."

But regardless of the outcome in the post-season, Cattolico is happy about taking his Wildcats to the playoffs.

The Cats opened the year with three straight losses but rallied to win seven straight, including six in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League to win the league championship.

"I'm really proud of this group of kids," Cattolico said.

Gatos clinched sole ownership of the league title with a hard-earned 17-6 win in the mud and darkness at Palo Alto last Friday afternoon.

"Defensively, we were really impressive," said the coach, whose club held the Vikings to just 52 yards on 26 carries. But the Wildcats had trouble getting into the end zone.

The Cats could manage just a first-half field goal to lead 3-0 at intermission, then scored just two second-half touchdowns.

But the defense kept Paly in its end of the field all afternoon.

"We literally played the entire game in their half of the field--from their 30 in," Cattolico said.

Enzo Iacomini and Justin Lehnert starred on the defensive side for the Wildcats and helped the Cats secure the victory.

Iacomini led the club with 13 tackles and also recovered a fumble. Lehnert was in on 11 tackles and forced a fumble for the Cats.

"He played as fine a football game as we've ever had a strong safety play," said Cattolico of Lehnert. "He had a tremendous ballgame."

The coach also singled out John Stengele for "playing one of his best games of the year." Stengele got in on three tackles and intercepted a pass for the Cats.

Austin Neale got in on nine tackles in the Gatos win, and Austin Glover and Steve LaBarbera were in on eight tackles apiece. Charlie Cucco was in on seven tackles, Anthony Fitzgerald five, Mike Manson four, and Chris Cavanagh and Fred Luminoso three each. Glover and Manson each sacked the quarterback, and Luminoso and Aaron Wagman each recovered fumbles.

"We did a pretty good job of playing defense," the coach added. "Thirteen of their 26 carries were for minus yardage, and that doesn't even include the two quarterback sacks."

Alan Rosa had another big day carrying the football for the Wildcats. The senior speedster raced for 158 yards on 33 carries.

"He was obviously the workhorse," said Cattolico.

Ryan Sorahan hooked up on seven of 14 passes for 135 yards. Stengele pulled in four passes for 65 yards, Glover caught one for 55, Vince Posner snagged one for 11 and Fitzgerald grabbed one for four. Stengele added 21 yards on the ground on three carries.

But even though the Wildcats were running up over 300 yards of total offense, they were having trouble getting into the end zone. Four times they penetrated the Paly 10 but came away empty.

Gatos had a great opportunity early in the game when the ball got away from Paly on a punt attempt. Wagman raced to scoop up the bad snap and rambled down to the Viking five. But the Cats couldn't punch it in.

Gatos got close again in the first period but was turned away by Paly at the one.

Finally, Sorahan tossed to Stengele, who took the ball down to the four. The Cats couldn't put the ball in the end zone, but Mike Cook came on to kick a 28-yard field goal.

Los Gatos had another golden opportunity before the half. Glover sacked the Paly quarterback, and Luminoso stole the ball away. He was off and running but slipped on the wet field. The Cats drove to the four but once more came up short.

"To their credit, they're a good football team," Cattolico said of Palo Alto. "They are big and physical." But the coach was still rather unhappy with a 3-0 lead at the half.

The defense stopped Paly after the second-half kickoff, and the Cats drove inside the 10, but were turned back a fourth time.

Finally, Rosa blasted over from the one later in the third quarter, and Cook's extra point kick made it 10-0.

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