Photograph by Paul Myers

Los Gatos wide receiver Derek Tam hauls in a touchdown pass from Trent Edwards in the 42-0 win over San Lorenzo Valley in the CCS Division III championship game Saturday night at San Jose City College.

Wildcats take the CCS championship with a San Lorenzo win

Los Gatos rolls past SLV 42-0

By Dick Sparrer

Trent Edwards, Geno Gingery and Jon Espe were sophomores on the Los Gatos team that lost to Mitty in the semifinals of the 1999 Central Coast Section Division III football playoffs.

Who could have imagined at the time that it would be the only loss they would experience in three years as varsity football players?

But it was. The three, who helped the Wildcats to an 11-1 season that fall, led Los Gatos to back-to-back 13-0 records and consecutive CCS Division III championships.

The Cats clinched their second CCS title in a row last Saturday night with a convincing 42-0 win over San Lorenzo Valley in the rain on the all-weather field at San Jose City College.

To put things in perspective, Los Gatos defeated an unbeaten SLV team to win the section crown. And by doing so, Gatos figured as the only team from the Santa Clara Valley to win a CCS football championship (Palma won Division I, Salinas took Division II and Pacific Grove won Division IV).

"That was a real nice way to end the season," said LG head coach Butch Cattolico of the lopsided victory. "Our kids played really well. I'm really proud of this group of kids."

And well he should be.

"Defensively, we really played solid football," said Cattolico. "And offensively we moved the ball consistently against them."

There were two turning points in Saturday night's game that helped Los Gatos clinch the title. The first came early in the game when the Wildcats gambled on fourth down and converted a first down, and the second came when Gatos came in the third period to score touchdowns on three consecutive possessions.

Charlie Clark had returned the opening kick off 16 yards to the SLV 32 to get the game going, but the Cats stalled at the SLV 42 and faced a fourth and nine. Despite the field position and the fact that it was so early in the game, Cattolico elected to "go for it."

"We had the wind at our back, and I've got the best quarterback in the nation out there," said Cattolico of Edwards. "We were in their territory, so I wasn't uncomfortable with the [the decision] at all."

Edwards hooked up with Scott Cohn for 13 yards and a first down, and the Wildcats were on their way.

"That really kind of set the tone," said Cattolico.

Edwards ended up hitting on 4 of 7 passes for 27 yards on the drive, and Chris Willard ran for 36 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown run. Anthony Frangadakis kicked the first of his seven extra points, and the Cats were up 7-0 early.


Photograph by Paul Myers

It's going to take more than this to take down Los Gatos running back Chris Willard. The senior ran for 138 yards and four touchdowns in the 42-0 win over SLV in the CCS title game.




The Wildcats were on the move again in the second quarter when a penalty and a couple of incomplete passes left them facing a third and 15 at their own 41. But Willard took a statue of liberty 23 yards for a key first down, then Edwards hit Derek Tam on a crossing route for 36 yards and a touchdown.

The Cougars threatened to get on the scoreboard when they drove deep into Los Gatos territory late in the half. But Gingery sacked the SLV quarterback at the eight. The Cougars had one last play with only four-tenths of a second left, and Cohn came through with the first of his two interceptions to end the threat.

"He just played a great football game," said Cattolico of Cohn, who had two picks, caught four passes, made seven tackles and covered SLV's top receiver all night. "He was just fantastic."

Despite taking a 14-0 lead to the lockerroom at the half, Cattolico was concerned.

"I told [his players] that we just weren't taking advantage of things out there," he said.

"I told them, 'These guys have you where they want you. They're the comeback kids,'" he added, referring to all of SLV's come-from-behind wins. "'You have to go out there and put your stamp on their foreheads.' And they did."

The Cats scored on their first three possessions of the second half.

A 39-yard pass from Edwards to Cohn set up a 14-yard touchdown run by Willard, and a 17-yard toss from Edwards to Cohn and an 11-yard run by Travis Howell set up Willard's 23-yard TD run.

Los Gatos made it 35-0 in the third when Edwards showed everyone he can do more than just throw the football. The senior quarterback raced 54 yards for a touchdown.

"He showed a little of his speed on that play," said Cattolico of Edwards. "He outran two of their defensive backs on that play."

Los Gatos finished the quarter with a 35-0 lead and was in total command of the game.

"We really took charge in the third quarter," added the coach.

San Lorenzo Valley went to the air in an effort to battle from behind, but Cohn was there to pick off a look-in pass and raced 34 yards to the SLV 12. Three plays later, Willard went six yards for his fourth touchdown of the game.

Willard finished the night with 25 carries for 138 yards, and he also caught a pass.

Edwards hit on 9 of 17 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown. Cohn had four catches for 85 yards, Tam caught three passes for 52 yards and a TD, and Gingery had a catch for five yards.

Edwards finished with 50 yards on two carries, Clark ran four times for 23 yards, Howell had 20 yards on three threes, and Dennis Freeman carried three times for nine yards.

Leading the Wildcats to 386 offensive yards and the seven touchdowns were offensive linemen Nick Crafford and John Allen at tackles, Ryan Johnson and Evan McDonald at guards and Carter Wallace at center.

"Early in the game, they were really coming at us," said Cattolico of SLV. "But by the third quarter, we were really dominating them on the line of scrimmage. I couldn't be more impressed with those kids and the job that they did."

Howell was the defensive leader with 10 tackles for the Cats, and senior noseguard Ken Heimer had a sack among his nine tackles and also recovered a fumble.

Cohn finished with seven tackles and the two interceptions, and Espe had a sack among his seven tackles as he returned to his early season form.

"He played back to the old Jon Espe standard," said Cattolico of the senior defensive lineman who was slowed late in the year with a knee injury. "It was nice for him to finish up like he did."

Eric Brown and Chris McMorrow nailed six tackles apiece for the Cats, Drew Hoffman had five and Gingery finished with four, including a sack.

"I was really impressed with our play on the defensive side of the ball," said Cattolico of his crew, which shut out a strong SLV club. "And in the secondary, those kids really work their butts off."

Andrew O'Gorman, Barrett Carpenter, Tom Ferguson, Ben Miller, David Fencl, James Gentry, Brett Cavanagh, Tam, Clark, Andy Betzina and Shaun Sullivan were others in on tackles for Los Gatos in the win.

The coach was especially pleased with the performance of Fencl, both for his efforts coming off the bench and in practice during the week.

"He really picked it up this week in practice," said the coach.

Los Gatos finished the year ranked No. 1 in the state among Division III schools, and ranked No. 7 in Northern California overall.

And Edwards, Gingery and Espe finished their high school careers with a 37-1 record in varsity football.

Not bad.

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