Saratoga News

Sports

The lights will be shining bright on Saratoga football

By Dick Sparrer

Television football commentator "Dandy" Don Meredith used to sing, "Turn out the lights, the party's over," whenever an outcome had been decided in a Monday Night Football game.

But if "Dandy Don" was in Saratoga next week, he'd be singing a different tune: "Turn on the lights, the party's just beginning!"

"Friday Night Lights" has come at long last to Saratoga, and the Falcons will play their first ever true home game under the lights on Sept. 29 when they host Fremont at 7:30 p.m. (5:15 p.m. frosh-soph start) at Benny Pierce Field.

Oh, the Falcons have been the home team in night games before, but always over at Los Gatos High School's Helm Field. Now, though, Los Gatos will not be the only team in the two-school district with its own set of lights.

This game will be under temporary lights, but by Saratoga's next home game--against Monta Vista on Oct. 13--the permanent light standards being installed at Pierce Field should be complete.

Saratoga will flick the switch on the lights, and the league season, when its hosts Fremont. The game marks the beginning of the campaign for the Falcons as they return to the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League after taking their lumps against the larger schools that make up the De Anza Division.

Still, even though the Falcons are playing in a "B" division, they were able to dish out some lumps of their own in non-league games against two "A" teams to open the 2006 season. Saratoga edged Homestead 24-21 to open the year, then battled from behind to upset Live Oak 22-21.

Saratoga made it three straight last week with a convincing 34-14 win over Hillsdale in San Mateo.

Senior Alex Lagemann, who has already verbally committed to UC-Berkeley, was on the receiving end of six passes in the win, two of them for touchdowns.

Saratoga took the early lead when senior Matt Casas hit Lagemann with an 8-yard touchdown pass. Nicholas May kicked the extra point, and the Falcons were up 7-0.

The Falcons took control of the game with three second-quarter scores. Lenny Liccardo scored on a 1-yard run, Peter Florence ran one in from the 10 and Casas flipped a 38-yard TD pass to Lagemann. May converted after each score, and Saratoga was up 28-0.

Hillsdale scored before intermission to trim the lead to 28-7, but Florence scored on a 4-yard run in the third quarter to push Saratoga's advantage to 34-7.

The Knights would score once more, but it was too little, too late as the Falcons cruised through a scoreless fourth to clinch the win.

Lagemann ended up snagging six passes for 87 yards, including the two TDs, to lead the Saratoga offense. Florence had four carries for 33 yards and also scored twice. Quarterbacks Casas, Kevin Sieczkarek and Kyle Guengerich shared the completions, and sophomore Mat Spencer had a big catch for 30 yards.

"We were able to get a lot of kids into the game," said Saratoga coach Kurt Heinrich, "and many of them had some meaningful snaps in there."

Warriors fall to 0-2

Westmont lost for the second straight week, dropping a 28-6 decision to San Jose Academy in a non-league game.

The Warriors trailed 28-0 when Trevor Vlay scored on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter to help Westmont avoid a shutout.

The Warriors have one final non-league tune-up before entering play in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

Westmont visits Lincoln on Sept. 23, 1:30 p.m., before heading to Gunderson on Sept. 30, 1:30 p.m., for the league opener.

Westmont and Lincoln tied for the Santa Teresa Division championship last fall. Lincoln has since moved up to the Mt. Hamilton Division and the Warriors, hit hard by graduation, remain in the Santa Teresa circuit.

Leigh blanks Prospect

The Mt. Hamilton Division met the West Valley Division when Leigh and Prospect collided in a non-league game last Friday, and the Panthers quickly found out the difference between the two divisions.

Leigh opened up a 27-0 halftime lead and went on to blank the Panthers 33-0, evening Prospect's season record at 1-1.

The Panthers, who had opened the year with a 26-8 victory over Sequoia two weeks earlier, will try to get back on the winning track this week when they travel to Monta Vista for a non-league game on Sept. 22, 3:15 p.m. It was to be a home game for the Panthers, but work on Prospect's field has not yet been completed.

Prospect visited Monta Vista for a non-league game last fall and lost a 42-24 decision in a high-scoring affair.

"They'll be gunning for us," said Monta Vista coach Jeff Mueller of the Panthers.