Saratoga News Season ends for Falcons, Warriors By Dick Sparrer When the sting of first-round losses in the Central Coast Section playoffs wears away, football players at Saratoga and Westmont can look back with pride on the 1998 football season. And for good reason... because it was quite a year for both the Falcons and Warriors. Saratoga and Westmont each lost by rather lopsided scores in the first round of the CCS play-offs. The Falcons fell 20-0 to Valley Christian, and Westmont lost 56-14 to Aragon. But the losses came after both the Falcons and Warriors had put together very impressive efforts in the '98 campaign. Saratoga finished the year with a solid 6-4-1 record. The Falcons lost their season opener to Soquel, but fought back with wins over Mitty and Willow Glen in the preseason. The Rams went on to win a share of the championship in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and advance to the CCS playoffs. The Falcons were 4-2 in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, losing only to league champ Milpitas and playoff-bound Los Gatos. They upset Wilcox to clinch a second-place tie in the division. Saratoga wrapped up the regular season by fighting Los Altos to a 19-19 tie. The Falcons trailed Valley Christian just 3-0 at the half last Saturday night in the first-round play-off game, but Valley scored twice in the third period and added a fourth-quarter field goal to win 20-0. Of Saratoga's 11 opponents this fall, seven advanced to the CCS playoffs. Westmont had a very rough time in the CCS playoffs last Saturday. The Warriors trailed 56-0 at Aragon before scoring a couple of touchdowns against the Dons. Junior quarterback Tony Oka tossed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Brando before the half, then went to Adam Brando for 35 yards and a TD in the third period. R. Brando kicked extra points after each of the Westmont scores. The loss left the Warriors 6-5 for the year, but what a year it was for Westmont. The Warriors won their first football championship since 1981 when they clinched the title in the West Valley Division of the BVAL. Westmont clinched the league crown with a 5-1 record, losing only to James Lick in the division race. The Warriors lost three straight to open the year, but rallied back with four straight wins, including a 14-0 nonleague win over rival Prospect from the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL. After losing 21-7 to Lick, the Warriors beat Hill and Yerba Buena to secure the title. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, November 25, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.