 |
|
|
|
Photograph by Lexey Swall
Saratoga's Nate Duncan scored a touchdown in last Friday night's 24-16 loss to Homestead.
Falcons struggle against Mustangs
Size mismatch more than Saratoga can overcome
By Dick Sparrer
The Los Gatos offense features tackles that go about 300 and 235 pounds.
Monta Vista's tackles weigh in at 270 and 235, and the tackles at Homestead and Wilcox are all over 250.
That's the kind of size that Saratoga runs into week after week in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. And for the much smaller 200-pounders at Saratoga, it makes things pretty difficult in the trenches.
"We just can't match up with these teams," admitted Saratoga head coach Kurt Heinrich. "Play in and play out, it's just such a mismatch."
The Falcons ran into that kind of mismatch last Friday night and ended up dropping a 24-16 decision to Homestead.
"Their linebackers were bigger than our tackles," said Heinrich. "So we have to do things with smoke and mirrors. That may work for a while, but not for long."
It didn't work at all for the Falcons in the first half against Homestead last week. Saratoga ran just seven offensive plays as the Mustangs opened up a 16-0 lead by intermission.
"We just can't match up with these teams that come right at us," added the coach. "It was a combination of their style and our vulnerability.
"That's what's frustrating for us. It's just crazy for us to be in this league."
Still, the Falcons made a second half run at Homestead. Bryce Allen snuck over from the 1 for a third-quarter touchdown, and Robert Meng ran for the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 16-8.
Saratoga scored again in the fourth when Brian Stirm tossed 12 yards to Nate Duncan for a touchdown, then hit Nolan Ng with a two-point pass. But the Mustangs scored in the fourth, too, to pull out the 24-16 win.
"They controlled the game in the first half," said Heinrich, "but in the second half we were a little more efficient."
Jason Choe played well for Saratoga in the loss, according to Heinrich, but the Falcons were hit hard by the early loss of two-way starter Kelly Mathew to a broken collarbone.
The loss to the Mustangs came after a tie against Milpitas and a solid effort against Monta Vista.
"The tie against Milpitas was huge," said Heinrich, "and we played a spirited game against Monta Vista, a pretty good team."
But the loss to Homestead dropped the Falcons to 1-3-1 in the division and to 4-4-1 for the year.
Saratoga still has a shot at a postseason playoff berth. But the Falcons would need a victory against Wilcox (1-3-1) on Nov. 12, 7:30 p.m., at Wilcox. Only Los Gatos (5-0), Palo Alto (4-1) and Milpitas (3-1-1) have clinched playoff spots, but the division's No. 4 spot is still up for grabs among Wilcox, Saratoga and Monta Vista (1-3-1).
Panthers win
Prospect needed to finish off the season with two wins at home if the Panthers hoped to be in the running for a postseason playoff berth.
And it's one down and one to go for Prospect.
The Panthers pulled out a thrilling 29-21 win over Del Mar last Friday afternoon on the Prospect field. And they'll return to their home turf this weekend needing a win over Westmont to clinch no worse than a tie for second place in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Prospect's win over Del Mar threw the race for second place into a real logjam.
Pioneer has won the division championship with a 6-0 record, but Prospect, Del Mar and Piedmont Hills share second with matching 3-2 records. Now the Panthers need a win over a scrappy Westmont club to finish at 4-2 and clinch a piece of second to possibly earn a berth in the CCS playoffs.
Prospect kept its playoff hopes alive with the exciting win over Del Mar last Friday.
Saladin Washington returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, and senior quarterback Jordan Williams tossed for two TDs to lead the Panthers to the victory.
Prospect took the early lead in the game when Williams went on top to hit Ryan Sainsbury for 50 yards and a touchdown in the first period. Washington ran in for the two-point conversion, and the Panthers were up 8-0.
Donald Austin upped the lead by a TD when he ran one in from the 3 in the second quarter. Andrew Heling's kick made it 15-0.
Del Mar cut the Prospect lead to 15-7, but the Panthers scored again before the half to take a 21-7 lead into intermission. J. Williams tossed 24 yards to senior wide receiver Brian Shouse for a touchdown.
It didn't take Prospect long to add to its lead in the third quarter. Washington ran back the second-half kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, and Heling ran in for the two-point conversion to give the Panthers a lopsided 29-7 cushion.
The Dons trailed just 29-21 with less than a minute remaining, but Prospect controlled the kickoff and ran out the clock for the important win.
Warriors fall
Westmont took a break from the Santa Teresa Division last week, but that didn't mean a week off for the Warriors.
Westmont filled its league bye week with a nonleague game against Valley Christian, and the Westmont Warriors fell 48-19 to the powerful Valley Christian Warriors.
Tony Perez ran for a couple of touchdowns, and Cris Snyder threw for another TD, but Westmont lost the lopsided decision to Valley to slip to 2-7 for the year.
Valley scored in the first period to hold a slim 6-0 lead after a quarter, and the Warriors scored again to lead 13-0 early in the second.
But Perez shot in from the 3 for a second-quarter touchdown for Westmont, and Ben Holmes kicked the extra point to cut the Valley lead to 13-7.
Valley Christian punched in two more touchdowns before the half to lead 27-7 at intermission, then returned the second-half kick off for a touchdown.
Perez scored from the 1 to make it 34-13, but Valley scored two more TDs to take a commanding 48-13 lead.
Westmont scored once more when Snyder tossed 15 yards to Branden Malinowski for a touchdown.
Adam Antolin had five catches for 82 yards for Westmont in the loss.
|
|
|
|
Saratoga, California Since 1955
