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Fremont Firebirds suffer tough defeat
Sardella runs toward another big victory
By Dick Sparrer
It was a tough way to lose.
The Fremont Firebirds had clawed their way from behind to take a 22-21 lead against Santa Clara last Friday afternoon at Diesner Field.
But the Bruins scored a game-winning touchdown in the final minute of play to pull out a 28-22 win over Fremont in the nonleague game.
Fremont actually led 8-0 after a quarter, but Santa Clara unloaded with 21 unanswered points in the second period.
Down 21-8 at intermission, Ron Demonner's Firebirds waged a valiant comeback. They scored in the third to cut the lead to 21-15, then scored in the fourth to take the slim one-point lead.
But Fremont couldn't hold off Santa Clara in the final moments. Quarterback Ted Mason blasted over for the TD on a 1-yard run, and the extra point kick snapped the tie to give the Bruins the victory.
The Firebirds took the early lead on the day when senior quarterback Delainy Durgin hit senior wide receiver Gilbert Aragon with an 8-yard TD toss. Durgin ran in for the 2-point conversion, and the Firebirds were up 8-0.
But Santa Clara came charging back with the three touchdowns in the second quarter to lead 21-8 at halftime.
There was not quit in the Firebirds, though. They got close when Durgin tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jessie Enchill, and Javier Eredia kicked the extra point to make it 21-15.
Fremont went in front midway through the fourth quarter. Senior running back Mike Mattman capped a drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game 21-21, and Eredia snapped the tie with his second extra point kick.
That's how it remained until the final minute when Santa Clara scored the game winner.
Fremont, now 1-2 in the young season, will try to get back on the winning track this week when the Firebirds visit Lynbrook on Sept. 28, 3:15 p.m. The game will mark the opening of the league season in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League for each of the clubs.
The Vikings are 2-1 for the year, beating Menlo School and St. Lawrence Academy before losing 21-0 to Gunn last Friday.
Chargers top Mustangs
Homestead fell to 1-2 for the year when the Mustangs dropped a 21-7 decision to Wilcox last Saturday night at Diesner Field.
A 33-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Dougherty to Garren Strong was the only score Homestead could manage in a tough loss to the Chargers.
Wilcox scored touchdowns in each of the first three periods to take a commanding 21-0 lead before Homestead finally got on the scoreboard in the fourth. David Johnson kicked the extra point to make the final 21-7.
The Mustangs will open El Camino Division play this week when they collide with Cupertino on Sept. 29, 7:30 p.m., back at Diesner.
Sardella wins again
Fremont sophomore Austin Sardella made it two straight last week when he ran to an individual win in the frosh-soph division at the Saratoga Invitational.
Sardella, who had finished first in the Firebird Invitational at Fremont on Sept. 13, cover the 2.0-mile course in Saratoga in 10:53.7 to beat Lynbrook's Eugene Berson to the finish line. Berson was second in 10:59.2.
And just as he had at Fremont the week before, Randal Polgar finished third for Fremont at Saratoga in 11:15.3 making it two straight weeks that a frosh-soph finish found Sardella, Berson and Polgar going one-two-three.
Fremont's Dennis Campos was ninth in 11:49.8 with Min Park 10th in 11:56.7, Joseph Seo 18th in 12:13.3 and Haruki Shimoda 22nd in 12:33.8.
Homestead's Nori Shimizu also finished strong in the division. The freshman ended up fifth in the frosh-soph race in 11:31.7.
In the girls varsity division, Rebecca Boyle of Homestead finished a solid third. The sophomore clocked in at 12:32.5.
Fremont's Kassie Korobkova was 24th in 14:54.0 with Virginia Colindres 26th and Nimantha Hordogoda 29th.
Rick Trevino of Fremont was 19th in the boys varsity race, running 11:35.4 for the Firebirds. Casey McCleary was 29th in 11:57.0 with Vince Klumper 32nd in 12:03.3 and John Seo 34th in 12:08.0.
Joseph Feizideh of Homestead was 28th in the boys varsity race in 11:55.4
Homestead's Amit Urban was 11th in the boys junior varsity division and Stephanie Skidmore was 17th in the girls JV race.
Dons open with win
The Dons at De Anza Community College opened the Coast Conference women's volleyball season exactly the way head coach Dawnis Guevara hoped they would ... by winning.
The Dons cruised to a 30-19, 30-19, 30-14 victory over Skyline last Wednesday. The win evened De Anza's season mark at 2-2 and gave the Dons a 1-0 start in the league campaign.
Guevara is looking for big things from the Dons this season. De Anza won a Coast Conference title in 1999, but dropped to second last year.
Sophomores Luna Duarte and Villa Fritz lead the Dons into action this fall. The two veterans are joined by talented freshmen Cheryl O'Riley, Catherine Chalfant, Norilyn Ancheta, Annie Gabriel, Jaclyn Mansch, Farris Sheppard and Antonella Vassallo.
The Dons will try to maintain their winning ways this week when they visit Ohlone on Sept. 26 and host Santa Rosa on Sept. 28.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
