Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Defensive backs Mike Black (17) and Andre Sorba (6) go up for the interception in last Thursday night's clash with Los Gatos. But as luck would have it, the football bounced back into the hands of Anthony Fitzgerald for a Gatos touchdown.

Saratoga falls to Wildcats

Winless Falcons travel to Wilcox

By Dick Sparrer

Saratoga had to feel pretty good about going in at the half down just 7-0 against Los Gatos.

After all, the Falcons had hung with the Wildcats throughout the first two periods despite getting outgained on the ground and through the air by Gatos.

But just when it appeared that Saratoga would head to the locker room trailing by just a touchdown, a 14-0 lead bounced right into the Wildcats' lap.

A bomb into the back of the end zone appeared to be destined to become an incompletion. In fact, the only players with a shot at catching the ball were Falcons.

Unfortunately for the Falcons, the ball bounced off the defensive backs and into the waiting arms of the Cats' Anthony Fitzgerald.

The touchdown gave Gatos a 14-0 lead, and the Cats parlayed that into a 34-16 win in the Thursday night game in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

The loss left the Falcons 0-2 in league play and 1-4 for the year.

But even the defeat couldn't cloud a solid performance by Saratoga senior quarterback Mike Black.

Black hit eight of 16 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown to lead the Saratoga offensive effort in the game.

The Falcons were trailing 34-0 before Black finally led them to the end zone in the fourth period. He scrambled for 15 yards and completed passes of 10 and 16 yards before hitting Andre Sorba for 35 yards and a touchdown. Black went back to Sorba for the two-point conversion.

Saratoga moved in for another score later in the period. The Falcons recovered a fumble deep in Los Gatos territory, and a few plays later Ryan Bernard blasted over from the 1. Black hit Jeremy Devich for two points, and the Falcons had cut the lead to 34-14.

But Los Gatos maintained possession the rest of the way to run out the clock for the win.

Gatos improved to 2-0 with the win and shares first place in the division with Wilcox and Palo Alto.

Things won't get any easier for the Falcons this week. Saratoga will visit Wilcox for a 7:30 p.m. game on Friday. The Chargers opened up a 40-0 halftime lead on their way to an easy win over Monta Vista last weekend. They enter the game with a 5-0 season record.

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