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Warriors, Panthers battle in balanced ST Division
By Dick Sparrer
There are tougher football leagues in the Central Coast Section than the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
But for sheer balance, you'd be hard-pressed to find any division more competitive than the Santa Teresa circuit this fall.
Sure, Willow Glen and Piedmont Hills are the preseason favorites to win it all this season. But balance throughout the pack should make the race very competitive in the 1999 campaign.
Of the seven teams in the division, three--Piedmont Hills, Del Mar and Independence--have played up in the rugged Mt. Hamilton Division. Two of them--Prospect and Piedmont Hills--are former Santa Teresa Division champions, and three others--Willow Glen, Westmont and Pioneer--have won titles in the West Valley Division.
Fall Football: High school football game schedules.
Willow Glen is gunning for a fourth straight trip to the CCS playoffs, and Westmont moves up to the division after winning the West Valley crown a year ago. Del Mar and Independence drop down to the division after playing in Mt. Hamilton competition last fall.
Put it all together, and you end up with a balanced, competitive division that should be headed into a lively race in 1999.
Westmont
Veteran football coach Tom Sweeney is predicting a second straight championship for Westmont this season, but he doesn't see any reason why his Warriors won't be competitive in the new division.
Westmont posted a 5-1 record to win the West Valley Division crown a year ago. With that championship came a trip to the CCS playoffs, and a trip into the Santa Teresa Division.
But the Warriors aren't intimidated by the higher division. Quite the contrary--Sweeney expects his Westmont club to compete with the teams in the top half of the standings.
Sweeney, who ran the Leigh program for a number of years before moving on to Westmont, rates Willow Glen, Piedmont Hills and Prospect as the league favorites this season, but he's also looking for his Warriors to finish in the "top four."
Heading up Westmont's hopes this fall are returning all-leaguers Ben Holmes, Tony Oka, Anthony Valdez and Mike Hilbert.
Valdez (6-foot-2 1/2, 195) is a senior returner in the offensive and defensive lines for the Warriors, and Holmes (6-foot-5, 235) is a senior back at tight end and linebacker. Valdez won an all-league first team spot last fall, and Holmes was picked to the all-league second team.
Hilbert (5-foot-10, 175) is a junior who started at tailback and free safety a year ago and performed well enough to win a place on the all-league first team.
Another top returner for the Warriors is senior quarterback Tony Oka (5-foot-8, 175), who doubles as a strong safety for the club. Oka led the club to the title last season and won a place on the all-league first team.
Jon Lowe (6-foot-3, 230) is a talented senior returning to starting positions in the offensive and defensive lines, and senior linebackers Tony LaVista (6-foot-2, 195) and A.J. Oxley (5-foot-9, 170) are other top returning starters.
Tim Wilson (5-foot-11, 220) is back in the offensive and defensive lines, and newcomers Jason Lucas (6-foot-2, 220), a junior lineman, and Tony Perez (5-foot-6, 165), a sophomore tailback, are other top prospects for the Warriors.
Prospect
Hector Flores walked into a tough coaching situation in his first year at Prospect last fall.
Flores inherited a squad that was small in numbers and seemed to grow smaller with each passing week because of tough injuries to key players.
The result was a 0-5-1 finish in the division and a 1-8-1 season overall.
But Flores returns nonetheless for his second year as the Prospect head coach. And with him come 13 returners and renewed hopes for a strong season in 1999.
Senior running back Donald Austin (5-foot-10, 185), one of those injured last fall, returns to lead the ground attack for the Panthers.
Senior Andrew Heling (6-foot, 170) is another returner who will double as a wide receiver and defensive back. Heling figures to be one of the top DB's in the circuit this year.
Senior Josh Mattson (5-foot-9, 170) is Prospect's middle linebacker, and he'll team with Heling to lead a solid defensive effort for the Panthers.
Jeremiah Evans (6-foot-4, 270) is an anchor in the offensive line for Prospect.
Jordan Williams (5-foot-10, 160) gained experience at quarterback as a junior, and defensive back Brian Shouse (6-foot, 150) made an impact on defense.
Juniors Curtis Wills, Ryan Sainsbury, Richard Tapia, Chris Kim and Carl Simien were the co-captains on a solid Prospect frosh-soph club last season, and the five could help the varsity this fall.
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