Photograph by Dick Sparrer
Saratoga's Scott Moran sniffs out the goal line as he scores a first-quarter touchdown for the Falcons against Pioneer.
Falcons fall in CCS semifinals
'We didn't execute,' said coach Kurt Heinrich
By Dick Sparrer
It was a day of misses for the Saratoga football team ... missed passes, missed blocks, missed opportunities.
And because of it, the Falcons missed a chance to play for the Central Coast Section Division IV championship.
Saratoga lost a tough 24-10 decision to Pioneer in the CCS semifinals last Friday afternoon at San Jose City College. The Mustangs will now play for the CCS title, and the Falcons have completed their season with a 6-5-1 record.
"We didn't execute," said Saratoga coach Kurt Heinrich after the loss. "We had some plays to make, and we just didn't make them. We missed some passes, missed some blocks."
Because of it, Pioneer battled back from an early 10-0 deficit to tie the game 10-10 by intermission, then the Mustangs won it in the second half with a pair of unanswered touchdowns.
Still, it was a good season for the Falcons.
"Hey, I'm proud of the guys," said Heinrich of his club. "They had a great year, and they made it on guts and guile."
"They rallied," he added, "and they played real good football for the last few weeks. They played their hearts out."
But that effort just wasn't enough last Friday. Pioneer turned good field position into a 17-10 lead, then scored the backbreaker with 1:32 left in the game when Jacob French went 72 yards for a game-clinching touchdown.
"We you come into a game like this, you need to bring you're a stuff," added Heinrich. "We didn't."
A couple of pass interceptions and a crucial missed pass proved costly for the Falcons. But it was a Pioneer turnover that actually led to the game's first score.
David Lii forced and recovered a Pioneer fumble with 8:08 left in the first period to get the Falcons going early. A 14-yard pass from Scott Moran to Devin Schrock and an 8-yard run by Moran set up the game's first touchdown, a 4-yard run by Moran behind blocks by Jon Anderson and Connor Peck over the left side. A.J. Weitsman kicked the extra point, and the Falcons led 7-0 with 3:33 to play in the first quarter.
Marc Muniz and Daniel Marsh got to Pioneer quarterback Matt Hinkle just as he attempted a screen pass, and the throw fell incomplete to force the Mustangs to punt.
A 14-yard run by fullback Jeff Lee, a 7-yard dash by Schrock and a 12-yard run by Moran moved the Falcons into position for a 37-yard field goal by Weitsman, and that quickly Saratoga was up 10-0 with 7:38 left in the half.
Photograph by Dick Sparrer
The defense gangs up for a tackle as Saratoga's Marc Muniz (37), Devin Schrock (88), David Lii (7) and Greg Van Hoesen (59) take down Pioneer's Andrew Orepeza.
The Mustangs answered right back when French broke a short pass from Hinkle 52 yards for a touchdown, but the Falcons started moving again after the kick off.
Schrock ran back to the Pioneer kick 21 yards to the 33 to get the Falcons going. Lee ran for 14 yards, Moran hit Schrock for seven yards, and a pass interference penalty helped the Falcons get to the 18. But a couple of plays later Matt Scheffer picked off a pass at his own 7 and ran it back to the Saratoga 45.
French ended up drilling a 39-yard field goal, and the clubs were locked in a 10-10 tie at intermission.
The second half turned into a battle of field position as the clubs traded punts. But the Falcons couldn't get out of their own territory, thanks largely to a French punt that was downed at the Saratoga 1-yard line.
The Mustangs took advantage of good field position to score a touchdown with 16 seconds left in the third period, Tyler Jack scoring on a 9-yard run.
Down 17-10, Saratoga had one more chance at the Mustangs. The Falcons took over at their own 18 with 6:43 left in the game after a Pioneer 18.
The Falcons went with a no-huddle offense and started moving down the field. John Griffin ran for eight yards and Lee for 14 before Moran tossed to Troy Follmar for 11.
Schrock ran for nine yards to the Pioneer 35, and the Falcons faced a crucial fourth-and-one. But Griffin followed a lead block by Matt Bickenbach to get the first down and keep the Saratoga drive alive.
But after a delay of game and an errant pass, Pioneer intercepted Saratoga again when Danny Matos picked off a pass at his own 11.
Four plays later French took off down the left sideline for a 72-yard touchdown run that all but clinched the win for the Mustangs.
Lee led the Saratoga ground attack in the game with 64 yards on 11 carries, and Griffin supported with 46 yards on 14 tries. Moran added 23 yards on the ground and Schrock ran for 19.
Moran completed 5 of 14 passes for 62 yards, hitting Schrock four times for 51 yards and Follmar once for 11.
Greg Van Hoesen led the defensive attack with 10 tackles, and Lii was close behind with nine. Muniz was in on seven tackles, and he shared a quarterback sack with Follmar.
Billy Miroyan was also in on seven tackles for the Falcons, Schrock and Marc Crosby were in on four apiece, and Kyle McMullin finished with three.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
