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Westmont wins to make things interesting
By Dick Sparrer
Things are getting pretty interesting in the football race in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
And that's thanks in no small part to the Westmont Warriors.
Westmont tightened things up considerably with a 28-14 win over Overfelt last Friday night.
The Royals and Gunderson appeared to be on a collision course for their Oct. 27 meeting in Grizzlieland. The two clubs expected to be unbeaten in the division heading into the Saturday afternoon game.
Westmont, it seems, had other ideas.
The Warriors came through with the big win last Friday, which throws them right into that title hunt in the division race.
Gunderson, a 26-6 winner over Prospect last Saturday, tops the circuit with a 3-0 record (5-2 overall). Overfelt sits in second at 3-1 (5-2), with Westmont a very close third at 2-1 (6-1).
No one seemed to be paying much attention to the Warriors as they ran up a 5-0 record to open the year. When they lost to Gunderson on Oct. 12, their title hopes seemed to take a nosedive.
But those hopes were renewed with the win over the Royals last week, and Westmont could climb right back atop the heap should Overfelt knock off Gunderson this weekend.
Of course, Westmont needs to win too, and the Warriors will be out to do just that when they host Andrew Hill on Oct. 26, 7:15 p.m. The Falcons are 0-2-1 in the division and 2-4-1 for the year.
Westmont rejoined the race thanks to a big night by junior quarterback Bryen Blankenship, who pitched three touchdown passes in the Warriors' 28-14 win over the Royals last week.
Blankenship threw TD tosses to Connor McDonald for five yards, to Mike Bacciarelli for 11 yards and to McDonald for 42 yards.
It was actually the Royals who scored first in the game, but Westmont tied it 7-7 before the end of the first quarter on the 5-yard TD toss from Blankenship to McDonald. Ben Peterson kicked the extra point that tied it 7-7 after a period.
Westmont took a 14-7 lead at the half thanks to the 11-yard scoring toss from Blankenship to Bacciarelli and another Peterson kick.
Overfelt tied it 14-14 in the third, but the Warriors broke the tie when senior running back Todd Bethke scored on a 4-yard run. Peterson's fourth kick upped the lead to 21-14.
Westmont added an insurance score in the final period when Blankenship hooked up with McDonald for a 42-yard scoring bomb. Peterson's added the final point, and the Warriors had locked up the win.
No first win
This wasn't the week for Prospect's first win of the 2001 football season. The Panthers challenged unbeaten Gunderson and lost a 26-6 decision.
Prospect jumped out to an early lead when Trevor Rogers busted a 60-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Gunderson came back to tie it before the end of the period, though, then scored two times in the second quarter to lead 20-6 at intermission. The Grizzlies added an insurance score in the fourth to clinch the 26-6 victory.
Rogers finished the day with 143 yards on 10 carries for the Panthers, and Ryan Schaefers supported with 46 yards on 18 tries.
Junior quarterback Steven Vidal hooked up on 5 of 19 passes for 69 yards, including a 23-yard to Dejuan Quinine. Quinine snagged two tosses for 34 yards in the game.
Schaefers was the tackling for the Panthers, getting in on eight stops. Mike Reclusado was in on five tackles for Prospect, and Marcelino Rios intercepted a Gunderson pass.
The 143-yard day helped Rogers up his season total to an impressive 453 yards rushing on 38 attempts for an 11.9 per carry average. He also leads the clubs with nine pass receptions for 126 yards.
Vidal has hit on 22 of 52 passes for 317 yards this year.
Schaefers, who has run for 243 yards, leads the Prospect defense with 55 tackles. Quinine and Austin Baumgarten also figure among the club's top tacklers.
The Panthers, now 0-4 in the Santa Teresa Division and 0-7 for the year, will chase that elusive first win when they visit Piedmont Hills on Oct. 26, 6:30 p.m., for a non-league game. The Pirates are 3-1 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL following a 21-7 loss to Valley Christian last week. Piedmont is 3-4 for the year.
Falcons fall
Scoring three touchdowns is often enough to win a football game.
But it doesn't appear to be true in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League this fall.
The teams in the circuit are putting up big numbers this season, while giving up some pretty big numbers as well.
Take last week's round of games for example. Gunn scored 28 points, but gave up 42 in a loss to Santa Clara. And both Saratoga and Palo Alto scored 21 points, but both ended up losing to division powers.
Paly dropped a 38-21 nod to Wilcox, and the Falcons lost 48-21 to Milpitas.
Then there's Los Gatos, and the Wildcats have been putting big numbers up against everyone. The Cats are 7-0 after drubbing winless Los Altos 52-12 last Thursday night.
It was Saratoga discovering that 21 points just doesn't seem to be enough to win a football game in the division this fall when the Falcons' three touchdowns left them plenty short against the Trojans.
Saratoga actually jumped out to a 7-0 lead against Milpitas when Jeff Lee scored on a 3-yard run in the first quarter and A.J. Weitsman kicked the extra point.
But the Trojans rallied back with four straight touchdowns to take a 28-7 lead by the half.
Senior quarterback Scott Moran ran six yards for a third-quarter touchdown for the Falcons, but Milpitas answered that with two scores to go up 41-14.
John Griffin went 23 yards for a touchdown in the final period and Weitsman kicked his third extra point to cut the lead to 41-21, but the Trojans would score one final insurance TD to clinch the win.
Milpitas improved to 3-1 in the division and to 5-2 for the year with the win. Saratoga slipped to 1-2 in division play and to 4-3 for the season.
Saratoga will host Gunn on Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m., at Los Gatos. The Titans are winless in league play.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
