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Returning all-leaguers lead Mustangs into '99
There is no football race tougher or more competitive than that contested each season in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Each year, the division features arguably the finest top-to-bottom line-up in the entire Central Coast Section.
And 1999 is no different.
First-year Homestead head coach Robert Ralph knows it. Still, he expects his Mustangs to compete for one of the division's four automatic CCS playoff berths this fall.
"We expect to be in the top half of a very, very tough league," admits Ralph. And that would be a spot in the playoffs.
Sure, he knows that Milpitas, Wilcox and Los Gatos are perrenial powers and that they rank among the best in the CCS. And he's aware that Saratoga, Palo Alto and Monta Vista are traditionally solid football schools with powerful programs.
But he's mighty impressed with his Mustangs, too.
"This is a very hard-working, great group of guys," said Ralph. And heading up that group are three returning all-leaguers who will lead a group of nine seniors returning to the varsity this season.
Alex Damsgaard won all-league first team honors as a center last season. Damsgaard will move into the Homestead backfield as the club's fullback, and he'll serve double-duty as a linebacker on defense.
David Tucker, an all-league running second team running back a year ago, will also switch offensive positions for the Mustangs. Tucker, who will join Damsgaard as a linebacker, will move to wide receiver on the offensive side.
Paul Papoulias returns to the Homestead defensive line where he was named to the all-league second-team a year ago. Papoulias will also play tight end on the offensive side.
Varsity returners Duncan Pack, Brian Lawler, Tony Kiel and Jason Scott give Homestead experience in the offensive line. Kiel and Scott also play in the defensive line with Pack doubling as a linebacker and Lawler as a defensive back.
Defensive lineman Nick Nelson and linebacker Doug Peeters also return from last year's varsity squad. Both can play tight end offensively.
Aaron Mansfield, Jason DeBolt, Darrell Turner, Robbie Garcia, Casler Johnston and Bryan Skitt are other top prospects.
Mansfield, a senior who will play his first season of high school football, will take over the quarterback spot for the Mustangs. Homestead opens the '99 season against Del Mar on Sept. 9, 7 p.m., at Fremont's Diesner Field.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
