Saratoga News
Sports
Panthers fall to Rams in battle for West Valley Division title
By Dick Sparrer
Marcos Garces knew what was at stake.
So did Juan Baron, Anthony Doan, Cory Kingston, Mike Roseland and the rest of the Willow Glen Rams.
They knew they were playing for a division championship and a trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs when they traveled to Prospect on Thursday afternoon. And they played like a team determined not to let the dream slip away.
Willow Glen rolled to a 41-7 victory over the Panthers last week, and with the win secured the crown in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. With that title comes an automatic berth in the CCS playoffs, a prize that wouldn't go to the second place finisher in the West Valley Division.
The win over Prospect on Thursday made that all possible. And what made the win possible was a brilliant defensive scheme by the Rams that limited the performance of Prospect's Kendall Hendon.
"We wanted to stop No. 1," said Willow Glen head coach Andy Penwarden, referring to Hendon. "That was our goal all week. Our focus was to take No. 1 out of the game. We had two guys him all day."
They did a good job of it, too. Hendon caught just three balls for 49 yards, and the Rams limited the Panthers to just 136 yards of total offense.
"They double bracketed him so he couldn't get the ball," said Prospect head coach Carlos Boles after the game.
But the difference in the game was more than just Willow Glen's successful effort to stop Hendon--it was the constant pressure the Rams put on the Prospect offense that forced three interceptions, a fumble and four quarterback sacks.
"That's these kids," said Penwarden of his defense. "Up front, they run to the ball real well."
Kingston certainly did. The senior safety sacked Prospect quarterback Zach Stevenson three times. Charlie Findeisen had a sack and an interception, Roseland picked off a pass and forced a fumble that Greg Garrity recovered and Sam Canchola had an interception.
"Turnover, turnover, turnover," said Boles, lamenting Prospect's second half woes when the Panthers turned the ball over four times.
Stevenson hit on 6 of 16 passes for 92 yards for the Panthers. Not only was he plagued by sacks and a couple of interceptions, but he had four of his passes dropped by his receivers. John Weaver completed one pass in two tries and threw one pick.
Shane Miller had two catches for 50 yards for the Panthers and Natniel Taye caught two balls.
The game had all the makings of an offensive shootout in the early going. The Rams moved right down the field on their first possession, marking 66 yards on nine plays before Garces capped the drive with a 3-yard TD run over the right side.
After the clubs exchanged punts, the Panthers found themselves in great field position. Chris Johnson's booming 60-yard punt pinned the Rams back at their own 2-yard-line, and key defensive plays by Perett Fiaavae, Paul-Michael Davis and Randy Wilde forced Cervantes to punt from the back line of the end zone.
Hendon returned the punt nine yards to the Willow Glen 23, then the offensive line of tackles Edward Lewis and George Hicks, guards Uychau Pham and Randell Sandrich and center Chris Walter led the Panthers the rest of the way. Wilde capped the short drive with a 3-yard TD run and David Matusewicz kicked the extra point that tied it 7-7 with 1:11 left in the first.
That's how it remained until Doan carried four times for 37 yards to set up a 1-yard TD sneak by Baron.
The first of Kingston's three QB sacks forced the Panthers to punt the ball away after the kick-off, and a couple of Garces runs for 21 yards set up a 6-yard TD dash by Baron with 23.4 seconds left in the half.
The Prospect offense sputtered in the second half. The Panthers went fumble, punt, interception, punt, interception, interception while the Rams were scoring three more times. Garces ran 26 yards for a touchdown and then scored on a 2-yard run, and Doan also had a 2-yard TD run.
Fiaavae was the defensive leader for the Panthers with 12 tackles, including a sack. Wilde and Hendon got in on eight tackles apiece, Johnson and Ryan Eseroma had six each (two of Eseroma's for losses), Joseph Clayton five, Hicks and J.D. Snyder four apiece and Davis, Miller, Curtis Vanwaardenberg and Shane Jennings three each. Vanwaardenberg and Jennings each sacked the quarterback and Jennings and Hendon each recovered fumbles.
Nick Kinder, Deep Khangura, Sandrich, Lewis and Jeremy Eseroma were also in on stops. J. Eseroma was also the rushing leader for the Panthers with eight carries for 22 yards.
The Panthers finished the year with a 5-2 division record and a 6-4 mark overall.
"It was a good feeling to have this game mean something," said Boles. "We're happy about what we did this year--it was another six-win season. From what it was when I took over to now, we're very pleased."
Warriors pull out victory
Over the Santa Teresa Division, Westmont finished the year with a victory to take a winning memory in the 2007 season. The Warriors pulled out a thrilling 31-27 win over Mt. Pleasant to finish 2-4-1 in the division and 2-7-1 overall.
Sophomore Cannon Bernarding gave an indication of the good things to come in his future, hitting on 21 of 36 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns.
The clubs matched touchdowns in the first period, traded two scores in the second quarter and scored a TD each in the third, but Westmont entered the final stanza trailing 27-24.
Junior running back D.J. Gregg scored on a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter and Kevin Blakley kicked the extra point to give the Warriors their margin of victory.
Westmont matched Mt. Pleasant's first period score with an 11-yard TD toss from Bernarding to junior wide receiver Phillippe Matteini. Blakley converted, and it was 7-7 after a quarter.
The Cardinals scored two touchdowns in the second period, but Westmont answered with a touchdown and a field goal. Bernarding flipped a 10-yard scoring pass to senior Darrien Broadnax. Blakley kicked the extra point, then later in the half booted a 34-yard field goal.
Gregg scored on a 10-yard run to match Mt. Pleasant's touchdown in the third, then scored the game winner in the fourth.
Blakley and Broadnax were two of a dozen seniors playing their final game for the Warriors. Alex Estrada, Nick Pennucci, Kyle Belshaw, Scott O'Hara, Kalfala Tamba, Dan Green, Quenton Sall, Sean Hutchinson, Edgar Chavarria and Jessie Ray were other seniors.
Conversely, Bernarding was one of the three sophomores on the Westmont roster--along with Josh Pennucci and Richard Mendez--who will join 27 juniors as returners next fall.
Falcons finish with win
The Saratoga Falcons saved the best for last, at least offensively. The Falcons rolled to a resounding 61-12 victory over Gunn last Thursday to wrap up the season with a 5-1 record in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Senior Alex Lagemann, who had committed to UC-Berkeley prior to the start of the season, had a Pac-10 performance that would make the Golden Bears proud. The big and fast wide receiver hauled in five passes for 126 yards and three touchdowns and also scored on a punt return to lead the Falcons to the easy win.
Lagemann did most of his damage in the first half. He hauled in a 60-yard scoring toss from senior Kevin Sieczkarek in the first quarter, and pulled down another Sieczkarek toss for 12 yards and a score before the first buzzer. Nicholas May kicked two of his seven extra points to help the Falcons jump out to a 14-0 lead.
Peter Florence scored on a 2-yard run before Lagemann took the punt return 68 yards for a touchdown to give the Falcons a comfortable 27-0 lead.
Gunn scored before the half, but the Falcons put the game away with three touchdowns in the third quarter.
Junior defensive back Keon Ghafouri returned a pass interception 32 yards for a TD before Lagemann scored on 7-yard pass from senior Matt Casas. Lenny Liccardo's 9-yard TD run before the end of the period gave the Falcons a commanding 48-6 lead.
Gunn scored in the fourth to cut the lead to 48-12, but the Falcons weren't finished yet. Andrew Capek scored on a 5-yard run before sophomore Mat Spencer took one 16 yards to paydirt.
