Saratoga News
Sports
Essner, Day are co-Seniors of the Year
By Mike Barnhart
It was not easy to be a successful defensive player in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's El Camino Division football race this fall.
For one thing, nearly every team had offenses laced with phenomenal athleticism, speed or skill. And most teams had big-play capabilities, running or passing the ball. In fact, five of the seven teams averaged at least 21 points in division games. Champion Saratoga scored more than 40 points four times in El Camino play and averaged almost 40 a game. Homestead scored about 30 a game. In fact, sixth-place Gunn even averaged 18 points a contest.
Defenders went into games knowing that they likely would give up at least three scores--no matter how well they played. Only five of 21 El Camino games were won by scoring less than 27 points. Because of the high-scoring offenses, defenders knew any given missed tackle or blown assignment could easily lead to a loss.
But through it all, players persevered, and the El Camino coaches acknowledged many outstanding defensive players recently when they selected the 2007 all-El Camino team.
Senior Zack Kowitz, a two-way lineman from Saratoga, was named Defensive Player of the Year. The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder shared the honor with Homestead sophomore John Batnitch.
Several other Saratoga defenders were first team selections and 12 Falcons total--11 seniors and one junior--were named to the 53-man, all-league squad. Monta Vista had 11 selections, Fremont 10, Homestead eight, Lynbrook and Gunn five apiece and Cupertino two.
Lynbrook's Scott Day and Saratoga's Gabe Essner, two of the best two-way starters in the division, shared the Senior of the Year award, while prolific Falcon halfback Mathew Spencer was the Junior of the Year.
Fremont senior Kenney Pope, a playmaker at defensive back and wide receiver, shared the division's Most Valuable Player award with senior running back Matt Moustakas of Monta Vista.
Other top awards went to Homestead senior Kevin Rogers (Offensive Player of the Year), Fremont senior Daunte Mills (Utility Player of Year), Monta Vista junior Graham Paterson (Most Valuable Lineman) and Fremont's Jordan Sever (Sophomore of the Year) all received top honors.
Saratoga's all-league selections included defensive backs Keon Ghafouri and Cullen Bowen, inside linebacker Matt Keating, defensive linemen Jasper Loren and Jonathon Yen, first-year kicker Kris Clark, offensive linemen David Pignatelli and Bryan Dodge and wide receiver Andrew Capek.
Day, who led Lynbrook's defense with 103 tackles from his linebacker position and paced the offense with 18 touchdowns (14 rushing, two receiving and two passing), was joined by four teammates on the team, seniors Andy Meunier and Yas Sakurai and juniors Emre Titizer and Nikhil Jain.
All five played both ways for the Vikings, but the 6-foot-8, 220-pound Meunier was picked for his work at tight end (20 catches, three touchdowns) and the other three were tabbed to the defense. Sakurai (three interceptions) was picked as a defensive back, Titizer (102 tackles) as an outside linebacker and Jain (39) as a lineman.
Conspicuous by their absence were a trio of senior quarterbacks--Kyle Guengerich of Saratoga, Greg Wallis of Lynbrook and Rex Blodgett of Homestead. They were overshadowed by the performances of a pair of left-handers, Monta Vista junior Justin Rahn and Fremont senior Kevin Woods.
Rahn, a 6-foot-4, 190-pounder, was a double threat for the Matadors' offense, completing 53 percent of his passes for 1,518 yards and 16 touchdowns and running for 448 yards and two other scores. Woods, meanwhile, broke Fremont's school record for most touchdown passes in a season.
Monta Vista, which allowed just 62 points in its six El Camino games, placed four defenders on the first team--senior linebacker Peter Kosulin, junior linebacker David Orvick, senior free safety Trevor Sambyal and senior lineman Samuel Moon.
Joining Moustakas and Rahn as offensive selections for Monta Vista were two senior wide receivers Billy Guardino and Matthew Dee, and a pair of linemen, senior Kevin Bernstein and junior Chris Cantwell.
Homestead selections included offensive linemen Casey Anker, Phillip Birton and Casey Anker, running back Darnel Green, defensive lineman Nick Nguyen and linebacker J.J. Kizine.
Cupertino had a pair of defensive selections, junior defensive back David Nguyen and senior lineman Scott Marvin. Nguyen was one of the Pioneers' most productive players, gaining 718 all-purpose yards and leading the defense with 58 tackles and three takeaways.
Fremont's other picks included two seniors, offensive lineman Luis Roa and linebacker Donnie Mena, and four juniors, kicker Harrison Waid, linebacker Patrick Washington, defensive back Matt Alva and offensive lineman Robbie Weir.
