By Dick Sparrer
Some Westmont football followers may have been concerned when the Warriors opened the season with three straight losses.
But head coach Tom Sweeney wasn't one of them. He knew what his Warriors were capable of.
And the Warriors are showing everyone exactly what that is as they boast a 2-0 record in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Westmont lost to Mountain View, Gunn and Piedmont Hills to open the season. But the Warriors have all but forgotten those nonleague losses after opening league play with wins over Valley Christian and Lincoln.
The Warriors handled Lincoln 34-22 last Friday behind the hard-charging efforts of running backs Mat Meade and Angelo D'Onofrio.
Meade ran for three touchdowns and over 100 yards, and D'Onofrio also topped 100 yards and scored once for the Warriors in the win.
Meade scored Westmont's first touchdown in the first period.
D'Onofrio hauled in an 11-yard scoring toss from Adam Curtis, and P.J. Dougherty raced 10 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
It was all Meade in the third quarter. The Westmont back scored on runs of three and 12 yards to help the Warriors clinch the win.
Westmont will try to make it three straight in league play this week when they visit James Lick on Oct. 18, 3:30 p.m. The Comets were preseason title favorites, but lost last week to Pioneer.
Falcons roll
A week after getting shut out by Homestead in their league opener, the Saratoga Falcons rebounded with a convincing 42-13 win over Milpitas.
"After the Homestead game, the kids felt that they hadn't played well," Saratoga coach Mike Machado said. "I guess we just took out our frustration on Milpitas."
Trent Frisina rambled for 148 yards on 14 carries, but he didn't find his way into the endzone for the Falcons.
Tyler Kellogg scored on a 22-yard run, and John Herndon scored on runs of 28 and five yards. The two joined with Frisina and Kota Takamoto to help the Falcons run up 330 yards rushing in the win.
Quarterback David Goni didn't throw much, but he did hit Brennan Carroll on a six-yard TD pass and found tight end Joe Brady for nine yards and a score.
"David made some good decisions," Machado said of his QB. "He ran the offense real well."
The coach was also pleased with the work of his offensive line.
"They did a great job of opening holes and giving our guys protection," he said.
James Choe returned the second-half kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown that gave the Falcons a 35-0 lead.
Jordan Eshelman was a defensive standout in the win. Eshelman blocked a Milpitas punt and ran it back 10 yards to set up Saratoga's first touchdown.
"The defense did a good job of stopping that offense," Machado said, referring to what had been a high-powered Milpitas passing attack in recent weeks.
Brennan Carroll had a big night for the Falcons. He scored a touchdown on a pass reception, and also completed a double pass for 65 yards. On the defensive side, he sacked the Milpitas quarterback.
The Falcons, now 1-1 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and 4-1 for the year, will go after their fifth win over the year this week when they host Santa Clara on Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m., at Los Gatos. It will be homecoming night for the Falcons.
Panthers fall
Like Lynbrook, it was two fourth quarter touchdowns that cost Prospect a 20-3 decision to Gunderson last Friday in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.
The loss left the Panthers 1-1 in league play heading into a battle at Mt. Pleasant on Oct. 19, 1 p.m. Prospect is 3-2 for the season.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, October 16, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved