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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Prospect's Andrew Heling caught four passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns in his club's 43-20 win over Independence last week.
Big win for the Vikings
Warriors, Panthers each post victories
By Dick Sparrer
Bob Blaschke had been waiting for this one for a long time. His Lynbrook Vikings were winless through the first three weeks of the league football race in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
But when the Vikes played host to winless Los Altos on Friday night at Cupertino, Blaschke was hoping that it would finally be time for a Vikings victory celebration.
He was right. The Vikes pulled out an exciting 31-30 win over the Eagles to push their division record to 1-3 and their season mark to 2-5.
Now Blaschke hopes his club will get a little greedy. He's sending his Vikings out to try to make it two straight when they take on another opponent winless in division play. Lynbrook will host Fremont (2-5, 0-3) on Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m., at Cupertino. The Firebirds lost 33-6 to Mountain View last Friday night.
Senior quarterback Matt Fratus will be looking for more big numbers this Friday when he leads the Vikings into action against Fremont. Fratus ran up over 200 yards of total offense to lead Lynbrook to last week's win over the Eagles.
Fratus led the ground attack for the Vikes with 12 carries for 100 yards and a touchdown, and he led the air attack by hooking up on seven of 11 passes for 105 yards and another touchdown.
Lynbrook took the early lead in the game when junior back Josh Huizar ran six yards for a touchdown, then Fratus tossed 21 yards to Steve Robertson for another score. Gordon Hawley converted after each touchdown, and the Vikings were on top 14-0.
Los Altos came charging back with two scores and a couple of two-point conversions to lead 16-14 after a period, and that's how it remained through intermission.
The see-saw battle continued in the second half. The Eagles scored and tossed for another two-pointer to make it 24-14, but Fratus ran nine yards for a touchdown before the end of the third period. Hawley's third kick cut the LA lead to 24-21.
Hawley tied it early in the fourth quarter with a 32-yard field goal, and Barry Arata put Lynbrook back in front when he ran one in from the 5. Hawley converted, and that final point would turn out to be a big one for the Vikings.
Los Altos scored a touchdown with less than 10 seconds left in the game, and the Eagles set for another two-point attempt. But the Eagles, who had converted three two-pointers, missed on the fourth when linebacker Fernandez Rodriguez came through with a huge game-saving tackle short of the goal line.
Two straight
Westmont made it two straight in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, and this win was more exciting than the last. The Warriors posted their first victory with a 14-13 win over Independence a couple of weeks back, clinching the win in the battle of the division's two winless teams when the 76ers tossed an errant pass on a two-point conversion attempt following a fourth-quarter touchdown.
But Westmont came through with an upset win last Friday afternoon, spoiling Willow Glen's homecoming with a rousing 43-42 win over the Rams.
Willow Glen was the team everyone was picking to win it all in the division this fall, but the loss to Westmont on Friday all but ended any hopes the Rams had of figuring among the league leaders.
Junior quarterback Chris Snyder blasted over from the 2 for a touchdown in the final minute of the game, and Tony Oka ran in for the two-point conversion to give the Warriors the victory in the see-saw battle.
Willow Glen scored in the first period to take the early lead in the game, but both clubs scored three touchdowns apiece in a high-scoring second quarter.
Westmont moved in front on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Snyder to Aaron Goldsmith and a two-point pass from Snyder to Dean Antolin.
Willow Glen's Leon Thomas returned the kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, but Westmont fought back again. Junior fullback Billy Stouffer bulled in from the 3, and Mike Hilbert kicked the extra point to give the Warriors a slim 15-14 lead.
The lead wouldn't last for long. Thomas ran another kickoff back for a touchdown, this one going 69 yards.
Willow Glen would score again to lead 27-15, but Westmont answered back before intermission. Snyder tossed to Tony LaVista for 15 yards and a touchdown to cut the lead to 27-21 at the half.
The Rams scored in the third to make it 29-21, but Westmont scored the next two touchdowns to regain the lead.
Snyder, who completed 15 of 29 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns, hit Antolin for 25 yards and a touchdown. Snyder flipped to Oka for the two-point conversion to tie the game 29-29. Westmont broke the tie on a 2-yard touchdown run by Snyder.
Once more, though, Willow Glen scored to go in front 42-35. But that just set the stage for Snyder's touchdown and Oka's two-pointer in the final minute that gave Westmont the win.
Westmont, now 2-2 in the division and 2-5 for the year, will host Del Mar on Oct. 29, 7:15 p.m., as the Warriors celebrate their homecoming... and they hope their third straight win.
Panthers win
Back-to-back losses to Pioneer and Overfelt had spoiled Prospect's otherwise perfect season, but the Panthers got back on the winning track last Friday with a rousing 43-20 victory over Independence.
The Panthers ran up a 29-7 lead by intermission and led 43-7 after three periods. Saladin Washington carried 15 times for 232 yards and four touchdowns.
Washington scored Prospect's first three touchdowns of the day on runs of 3, 17 and 3 yards. Mike Stephens ran for a two-point conversion after the second score and Andrew Heling kicked an extra point after the third to give the Panthers a 21-0 lead.
Prospect made it 29-0 moments later when Heling, who snagged four passes for 111 yards, pulled in an 8-yard scoring toss from senior quarterback Jordan Williams. Heling flipped a two-point toss to Kelly Stevens for the two-point conversion.
Independence scored before the break, but Prospect answered with two touchdowns in the third to jump out to the commanding lead.
Washington broke one 80 yards for a touchdown, and Heling caught an 82-yard scoring toss from Curtis Wills. Heling converted after each score, and the Panthers led 43-7.
Prospect, now 2-1 in the Santa Teresa Division and 5-2 for the year, faces a key test this week. The Panthers will visit Piedmont Hills on Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m. The Pirates, 4-3 for the year following a 14-13 loss to Santa Teresa last week, are 1-2 in division play. They were picked to rival Willow Glen for the division title this fall.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
