Hancock hopes 13 will be lucky number for Vikings
Players back for more
By Dick Sparrer
To many, 13 is not a very lucky number.
But West Valley Community College football coach John Hancock doesn't look at it that way.
The Vikings have 13 players returning from a 1999 club that posted a winning 6-4 record, and Hancock considers himself very lucky indeed.
A half dozen all-conference returners, including a couple of first-team picks, top the list of a baker's dozen lettermen at West Valley this fall.
Defensive end Ryan Smith (6-foot-1, 216 pounds) and defensive back Charles Boughton (6-foot-1, 182) were each first-team all-conference performers a year ago. And they return this fall to lead an experienced defensive squad into action.
T.J. Aimonetti (6-foot-2, 240) will play opposite Smith at the other defensive end spot. Aimonetti, a Westmont graduate, won a second-team all-conference spot last year.
Linebacker Corey Gomes (5-foot-11, 207) was another all-conference second-teamer who is back on the defensive squad along with lettermen Joey Robinson (6-foot, 185), Calvin Edwards (5-foot-7, 177) and Adam LaBare (5-foot-11, 179) in the secondary.
Heading up the offense is a sophomore quarterback Kyle Padia (6-foot-3, 215). Padia, a prep star at Leigh, won a second-team all-conference place last year.
Running back Mat Meade (5-foot-11, 212), wide receiver Anthony Stelmach (6-foot-1, 185) and tight ends Billy Himan (6-foot-2, 269) and Taylor Wallace (6-foot-5, 235) are other top returners to the offensive unit. Meade was Aimonetti's teammate at Westmont.
Sophomore placekicker Jeff Chaussee (6-foot-2, 248) returns to handle the kicking chores for the Vikings after winning all-conference honors last year.
Top freshman prospects at West Valley this fall include three stars from last year's championship Los Gatos football team. Tackles Ryan O'Gorman (6-foot-5, 240) and Mike Belsheim (6-foot-4, 318) will be blocking for running back Justin Narragon (5-foot-10, 190), just as they did last fall at Gatos.
Wide receiver Brian Davis (6-foot, 175) will be running pass patterns along with his former Pioneer teammate, Stelmach.
Lance Vee (6-foot-4, 329) and Chris Keith (6-foot-2, 284) are other top prospects in the offensive line and Onyera Ossai (6-foot-2, 220) is a talented newcomer at linebacker.
The Vikings host Chabot on Sept. 8, 3 p.m. in the season opener on their Saratoga field. West Valley will chase its first title since 1994 when the conference year begins Sept. 23 at the College of San Mateo.
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