Well, the Falcons did suffer their first defeat of the season on Friday at Los Gatos High's Helm Field, but it was anything but crushing. Saratoga battled back with a gutty second-half effort before losing 28-6 to the powerful Wildcats.

"We competed our butts off, but we expect that of ourselves," said Saratoga coach Kurt Heinrich. "We just started executing [in the third quarter]."

The Falcons ran 16 plays in the third period to just eight for the Cats, and they ran up 116 yards on the ground in the quarter, including a 43-yard touchdown run by Dayne McGee.

The TD cut the Gatos lead to 21-6, and the Falcons came back driving again before the end of the quarter, only to come up short. Still, it was an impressive comeback effort for Saratoga.

"We've got great kids," said Heinrich of his Falcons. "We've got great character kids at this school."

That character will be tested this week when the Falcons visit Santa Clara on Nov. 14, 2:45 p.m., with the division championship and an automatic Central Coast Section playoff berth on the line. The Bruins (6-3) and Falcons (7-1-1) sport matching 5-0 league records.

"I assure you that winning a league championship is very important to us," said Heinrich. "We need to prepare—we need to get healthy. This was a very physical football game tonight."

Saratoga managed to pound out 171 yards on the ground, most of that coming in the third quarter. And the Falcons had to work for every yard they got.

"They're an awfully powerful football team," said Heinrich of the Wildcats, who had already clinched the De Anza Division championship.

"They played well," said Los Gatos coach Butch Cattolico of Saratoga. "They came out in the second half and did what they had to do."

"What they did was what they've tried to do for the last few years—keep our offense off the field," he added.

The Wildcats got off to an impressive start, scoring 21 points and running up 193 yards of total offense in the first half. Danny Bates led the attack with 146 yards on 17 carries, and Eric Rollin pitched a pair of touchdown passes.

But Saratoga shut down Bates in the second half. The talented senior back added just nine net yards on nine carries in the final two periods and the Wildcats could add just 91 additional yards.

"It's hard to practice for them," said Cattolico. "They give you so many different looks [defensively]."

But one look that didn't work very well for the Falcons came on the first play of the game when they left the middle wide open. Bates shot through the hole and was off to the races for a 62-yard touchdown run.

Los Gatos would score two more times in the half to lead 21-0, holding the Falcons to a mere 35 yards of total offense.

But the third quarter belonged to the Falcons.

Los Gatos wanted to force Saratoga to throw the football, but the Falcons were able to keep the ball on the ground much of the night.

"They can't throw the ball," said Cattolico. "We had to get them out of that thing that's comfortable for them."

But Saratoga comfortably—and effectively—ran the option in the third quarter and moved the ball down the field. Still, the Falcons could manage just one touchdown, and Gatos got that one back when Rollin threw his third touchdown pass in the fourth.

McGee led the offensive attack for the Falcons with 14 carries for 91 yards and two pass receptions for 10 yards.

Senior quarterback was sacked seven times in the game, but still managed to net 57 yards on 19 carries. He completed 4 of 11 passes for 27 yards. Eric Frederickson caught a pass for 10 yards and Phil Spencer had a catch for seven. Spencer added 18 yards on five carries.

Linebacker Adam Sato was the defensive leader for the Falcons with 11 tackles, including two for losses. Brent Walter got in on seven tackles and Paul Culbertson, T.J. Florence and Javier Meza were in on six each. Jeff Lyn, Tom Cummins and Mark Denari got in on four tackles each and Ryan Newberry and Ryan Hall had three apiece. Spencer and Mike Block were also in on tackles.