Crosby ran for 127 yards and three touchdowns in the first two quarters to help the Falcons spoil Monta Vista's homecoming on Saturday night at Cupertino High with a 50-13 Saratoga victory.

Crosby scored the last three times he touched the football in the first half, including a brilliant 35-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the second quarter that gave the Falcons a commanding 36-7 lead at intermission.

The win was the second straight for the Falcons, who are now 3-5 for the year heading into their final two games of the season. What's more, they played well, which pleased head coach Kurt Heinrich.

"We played clean," said Heinrich, whose club had a rather sloppy showing in a win over Santa Clara a week earlier. "It was the first time we played that clean since the first game of the year."

And, using a sports cliché, it was literally a total team effort for the Falcons.

"Everybody got to play," added Heinrich. "And there are smiles on everyone's faces—and that's what this is all about."

Those smiles will turn to looks of determination this week, though, as the Falcons prepare for Wilcox. The Chargers are just 2-6 this year and 1-3 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League—but that one league win came last Friday in a 14-10 decision over powerhouse Milpitas.

"Somebody woke up the giant," said Heinrich, referring to the Wilcox club, that everyone expected to be a contender this season. The Saratoga coach is hoping that the Falcons can carry over some momentum from Saturday's win over Monta Vista when the Falcons host the Chargers on Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m., at Los Gatos.

"We got it going," said Heinrich of his club's performance against the Matadors. "I was pleased that the senior group had the kind of night they did."

The Falcons certainly did get it going against the Mats, and they got it going in a hurry.

Five plays into the game, junior quarterback Brett Granum faked to the fullback on the option, then pulled it back and raced around the left end 52 yards for a touchdown. Crosby ran in for the 2-point conversion, and the Falcons were up 8-0 2:40 into the game.

Senior linebacker Greg Van Hoesen made a couple of key tackles and Crosby broke up a pass play to help the Falcons get the football back a few minutes later at their own 30, and the offense got it going again.

Dayne McGee took a short pass from Granum, broke a couple of tackles and rambled down to the Monta Vista 11 to finish off a 54-yard play for Saratoga.

John Griffin ran for two yards before breaking up the middle for a 9-yard touchdown run. A 2-point toss from Granum to Buck Wright gave the Falcons a 16-0 lead.

Linebacker Jeff Lee helped the Falcons stop the Matadors cold after the kickoff, and Monta Vista was forced to punt. But after a bad snap, the punter's effort went straight up in the air, and Saratoga took over at the MV 33.

Working behind the offensive front of tackles Chris Barrett and Chris Kowitz, guards Van Hoesen and Jon Anderson, center Jon Cha and tight end Matt Bickenbach, the Falcons moved right on two runs by Griffin for 17 yards, a Granum pass to McGee for eight yards and an 8-yard touchdown run by Crosby.

It was 22-0 with 13 seconds remaining in the first period.

But Crosby was just getting started. He broke a 64-yard touchdown run just over four minutes later, then added the 35-yard TD dash with 48 seconds left in the half. Granum's 2-point toss to Wright gave the Falcons a comfortable 36-7 lead.

An 18-yard touchdown run by Griffin in the third quarter spelled the end of the night for the Saratoga starters.

Monta Vista scored late in the third period, but Saratoga's reserves answered with a long touchdown drive that ate up most of the clock in the final quarter.

Quarterback Eric Frederickson came on to lead the Falcons on a methodical 18-play, 59-yard touchdown drive that started with two minutes left in the third quarter and ended with 2:06 left in the game.

Brett Behnke ran back the kickoff 14 yards to the Saratoga 41-yard line to get things started. Omar El-Ziq carried six times for 27 yards on the Saratoga march, and Anderson, a guard, also picked up a fumble to ramble five yards down the Monta Vista 4-yard line. Ryan Newberry picked up three yards before blasting over for the final one and the touchdown. Mark Bertelsen's second extra point kick made the final 50-13.

Saratoga finished the night with 431 yards of total offense, 359 of that coming on the ground. Crosby led the offense with his 127 yards on just six carries, and Griffin supported with 79 yards on 10 tries.

Granum ran three times for 68 yards and also completed 3 of 5 passes for 72 yards. McGee had two catches for 62 yards, and Wright caught one pass for 10 yards.

Van Hoesen was the tackling leader for the Falcons with six stops. Behnke, Newberry and Kyle McMullin got in on five tackles each, and Anderson and Jonny Miroyan were in on four each. Newberry, Ryan Hall and Anderson each sacked the Monta Vista quarterback, and Miroyan recovered an onside kick.

Wright, Crosby, Lee, Paul Culbertson, Tom Cummins, Bickenbach, Alex Kassai, Javier Meza, Matt Chabrier and Jay New were also in on tackles for the Falcons. Brae McMullin blocked an attempted extra point kick.