The Falcons rolled up 263 yards of total offense and scored 30 points in their season opener against San Mateo under the lights at Los Gatos High School on Friday night.

Defensively, though, it was a different story.

The Falcons couldn't seem to stop the Bearcats and ended up losing a 49-30 non-league decision in the first game of the 2005 season.

"We'd play well for a few series," coach Kurt Heinrich said of his club's defensive effort, "but overall we didn't play well at all. I don't think we competed well. But our guys don't have a lot of experience and it took a while to get going."

Still, it was in the second half when the defense really let the Falcons down. Saratoga's offense had battled back from a 28-16 deficit to cut the San Mateo lead to 28-23 before intermission. But the Bearcats scored three straight TDs in the second half to pull away.

"We're going to have to find out how much they want to compete," Heinrich said of his defense.

And the Falcons are going to have to find out in a hurry, because the schedule doesn't get any easier for Saratoga over the next few weeks. The Falcons visit Pioneer (2-0) on Sept. 17, 1:30 p.m., and, after facing Lynbrook a week later, open league play against Los Gatos, the favorite in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

Saratoga will have its hands full at Pioneer this weekend.

"They're just efficient," Heinrich said of the Mustangs. "They have stocky, thick kids who compete, and they're well coached."

They're also 2-0 after opening the season with impressive wins over Gunderson (34-8) and Menlo-Atherton (35-6).

"They're going to be very good," Heinrich said of Pioneer.

San Mateo was pretty good last Friday, but the Falcons gave the Bearcats a run for their money in the first half.

The 'Cats opened up a 14-0 lead before the Falcons answered with a TD when Steve Marinero took an option pitch around the left side for nine yards and a score.

San Mateo scored again, but Nick May cut the lead to 21-9 with a 27-yard field goal with 10:22 left in the half.

The Bearcats hit paydirt one more time, but Kevin Sieczkarek got one back for the Falcons in a hurry with a 14-yard TD run. May's extra point kick cut the lead to 28-16.

Saratoga made it 28-23 with 34 seconds left in the half with quarterback Amir Gupta raced 28 yards for a score and May converted.

"But they scored three times in the third quarter, and the last one was a killer," the coach added, referring to a fumble that was scooped up and returned 17 yards for a score.

Sieczkarek tossed a 30-yard touchdown pass to Alex Lagemann later in the game and May converted, but it was too little, too late for the Falcons.

The coach was pleased with the play of Gupta and Sieczkarek at quarterback. The two combined to hit on 11 of 21 passes for 128 yards, most of them going to Lagemann who had seven catches for 87 yards.

Gupta led the ground attack with 12 carries for 102 yards and Sieczkarek added 23 yards on six tries.

Heinrich was also pleased with Steve Marinero, who "played steady at fullback." The senior picked up 43 yards on 11 carries.

Eric Wong added 43 yards on eight tries and Tyler Williams picked up 31 yards on seven attempts. Jeff Frederickson chipped in with two runs for 20 yards.

Up front offensively, the Falcons were hampered when senior Augie Lagemann suffered a sprained ankle.

The coach was pleased with the effort of defensive tackle Sean Casserly, who "showed some promise and competed really hard." But otherwise, Heinrich feels that the Falcons need some work.

"We were good and bad--mostly good, though," he said. "We have a lot of players who haven't had experience this level. We're going to have some growing pains."