Devin Lopez and Chris Cuthbert both flew down the field like running backs to score touchdowns for the Wildcats in their 34-11 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division victory over rival Saratoga.

"That was a big ballgame for us," said Los Gatos coach Butch Cattolico after the win. "There are some games we have to win, and we felt like this was one of them. We think these guys are going to beat some teams in this league."

The Wildcats built up a commanding 27-3 first-half lead, then hung on in the second half as the Falcons outgained Gatos 140-42 in offensive yardage. Despite the numbers, Saratoga couldn't do much to overtake the Los Gatos lead.

"We hurt ourselves," said Saratoga coach Kurt Heinrich after the loss. "Our kids just get too excited for this game."

Still, the coach was impressed with the way his club fought back in the second half.

"I was terribly pleased," said Heinrich of his club's performance after intermission. "They showed great courage and character to compete in the second half. I was proud of the guys—they competed really well."

But despite Saratoga's efforts, Los Gatos built up an early lead, then put the game away with the two defensive touchdowns.

The Falcons were trailing 20-3 but moving the football late in the first half when Lopez turned things around in a hurry.

Fullback Peter Rutti, who had a sensational night with 23 carries for 204 yards and a touchdown, had run for one first down following a Gatos punt and was running for another when he was met head-up by Los Gatos linebacker Brian Bolandi. Lopez was close enough to see the football back on Rutti's hip, and the noseguard snatched it away and raced 40 yards for a touchdown.

The TD came with just 35 seconds left in the half, stretching the Gatos lead to 27-3 and capping a solid first-half showing.

"We have no complaints," said Cattolico. "We got out and executed well."

They certainly did. The Wildcats bent but didn't break on Saratoga's first possession as the Falcons drove to the LG 21 to open the game, then their offense struck quickly.

Running back Alex Ghanavati took the football around the left side, shoot a tackle near the line of scrimmage, then outrun three Falcons up the sideline for a 74-yard touchdown run.

Ghanavati was the workhorse of the Los Gatos backfield with 24 carries for 203 yards and three first-half touchdowns.

"He ran real hard in the first half, just like he did against Wilcox," said Cattolico of Ghanavati.

As pleased as he was with the running of Ghanavati, he was also impressed by the defensive performance of Vince Bellotti.

"Bellotti was all over the field," said Cattolico of his free safety, who led every defender on the field that night with 15 tackles and a pass interception.

Bellotti chased down Rutti from behind as the Saratoga speedster took off on a 90-yard run moments after Ghanavati's touchdown run in the first. The Falcons were pinned back at their own 2-yard line when Rutti shook free, but Bellotti caught him from behind at the Los Gatos 8-yard line.

Saratoga could get only as close as the 4-yard line, though, as Marty Mullins, Cuthbert, Nick Gaffney and Evan Wynne made key tackles for the Cats. The Falcons settled for a 21-yard field goal by David Orasin to cut the lead to 6-3.

Gatos answered with a 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive that Ghanavati capped with a 3-yard TD run behind tackle Liam Smith and guard Wynne.

Sophomore strong safety Will Kapp made a diving interception three plays after the kick off, and the Cats were in business again at the
Saratoga 36. Kapp also had a big defensive game with a quarterback sack among his 11 tackles.

A 26-yard run by Ghanavati set up his 2-yard TD blast, and Matt Boyd kicked the second of his four extra points to put the Cats up 20-3.

The big defensive play by Lopez gave the Wildcats a little insurance before the break, and they would need it when the Falcons came out strong in the second half.

Saratoga put together a time-consuming 15-play, 65-yard drive that started midway through the third quarter and ended when Rutti followed Chris Chavez into the end zone for a 2-yard run with 11:18 left in the game. Quarterback Brandon Kinsting raced around the right side for the two-point conversion, and that quickly it was 27-11.

Saratoga stopped Gatos cold after the kick off, and the Falcons started another drive, moving to midfield on 11 plays. Lopez' big defensive play to end the first half loomed large at that point because it could have been 20-11. And then the defense struck again.

Kinsting dropped back for a screen pass, but threw the ball right into the hands of Cuthbert. The big 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive tackle rambled 35 yards for the touchdown that proved the back-breaker for the Falcons.

Despite more than tripling Los Gatos' offensive output in the second half, but the Falcons were able to put the ball in the end zone just once.

"We knew they were going to move the ball," said Cattolico of the Falcons. "They put a lot of pressure on you—they really widen you out."

"We knew they would make some yards outside because of their speed," he added. "We wanted to shut down the fullback inside and take their quarterback away ... make him pitch the ball."

Rutti got most of his 204 yards running outside, along with Tyler Williams and Phil Spencer. Williams raced for 51 yards on seven carries and Spencer added 25 yards on five tries. Spencer also had a 64-yard punt return, caught Kinsting's only pass completion for 42 yards and ran back three kick offs for 76 yards.

Ghanavati led Los Gatos with his 203 yards rushing, and that accounted for most of the Cats' 234 yards of total offense. Erik Rollin completed just 2 of 6 passes for 13 yards, both completions going to David Martini. Michael Brienzo carried three times for 15 yards.

"They take some chances on defense," said Cattolico. "And in the second half, they made some adjustments."

Linebacker Adam Sato was the defensive leader for the Falcons with eight tackles, including one for a loss. Spencer and Brent Walter were in on five tackles apiece and Ryan Hall, Jeff Lyu and Michael Block had four each. Walter had one tackle for a loss and hit the Los Gatos quarterback one time as he dropped back to throw.

T.J. Florence, Kyle Stoffers, Mark Denari and Greg Mow were also among the tackling leaders and Eric Wong and Matt Evans got in on stops.

Saratoga will hit the road this week, hoping to get back on the winning track with a victory over Gunn on Oct. 22, 3:15 p.m., in Palo Alto.