By DICK SPARRER
Homestead was due to unload.
The Mustangs had opened the 1996 football season by dropping a 21-20 heartbreaker to defending Central Coast Section champion Aradon, and they came back a week later with a tight 27-25 win over Seaside.
So the powerful Mustangs were about ready to unload on someone. And Cupertino just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The place was the Cupertino High School field, and the time was Friday night. The outcome: a 48-28 Homestead victory.
The Mustangs scored seven touchdowns on the road to a win that was anything but easy.
Homestead clinched the win with a pair of second-half touchdowns, but the Mustangs and Pioneers were locked in a scoring duel in the first half.
Tony Elam, who led all ball carriers with 169 yards, took off on an 18-yard TD run in the first period and Frank Castillo kicked the extra point to give the Mustangs the early lead, but the Pioneers answered back quickly.
Quarterback Matt Mueller hit junior Mike Whitaker on an 86-yard touchdown pass, and Whitaker converted to tie the game 7-7.
David Delgado, who supported Elam's effort with 127 yards rushing, blasted over from the one and Castillo converted, but once more the Pioneers right back.
Mueller went back to the air, this time hitting Maurice Lawson for 68 yards and a TD. The kick was blocked, but 'Tino had cut the lead to 14-13.
It was Homestead answering right back this time, though. Jason Woods ran back the Cupertino kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown to add to the Mustangs' lead.
The Pioneers tried to come right back through the skies, but this time Andrew Delgado picked off a Mueller pass and ran it back 28 yards for a touchdown. Castillo added his fourth extra point kick, and Homestead led 28-13.
But there was no quit in the Pioneers on this particular Friday night. After trading possessions with the Mustangs, Cupertino scored again when Brian Bowen scooped up a fumble and raced 22 yards for a touchdown. Dave Jackson ran in for the two-point conversion, and the Pioneers trimmed Homestead's lead to 28-21.
Elam kept up the pressure with a 22-yard touchdown run and Castillo converted for the fifth time. But Cupertino was not to be outdone.
Mueller hit Lawson with a six-yard touchdown pass and Whitaker kicked the extra point that left the Pioneers trailing just 35-28 at intermission.
But Homestead quarterback John Hanneman shot in from six yards out in the third, and D. Delgado blasted over from the two in the final period to help the Mustangs pull out the high-scoring victory.
The win pushed Homestead's season record to 2-1 as the Mustangs prepare to open league play this week. The Mustangs will take on Saratoga on Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m., at Fremont's Diesner Field to open play in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.
Purcell leads Mats
Chad Purcell had two big games to help Monta Vista open the '96 football season with two big wins.
Well, make that three.
Purcell, who romped for 241 yards in a 49-7 win over Lynbrook and 107 yards in a 35-8 win over South San Francisco, powered for 213 yards in a 21-14 win over Fremont last Friday night.
That means the senior running back is over halfway to the much sought after 1,000-yard mark with 561 yards in just three games. And it also means that he's led the Matadors to three victories in the first three games of the season.
The Firebirds took the early lead in the Friday game when Jerrick Powell scampered in from the four for a first-period touchdown. Jorge Novoa kicked the extra point, and the Firebirds took a quick 7-0 lead.
But Purcell went to work moments later. He took the ball at his own five and raced 95 yards for a touchdown. Ninus Benjamin kicked the extra point, and the clubs were tied 7-7.
Not for long. Powell broke loose on a 27-yard touchdown run, and Novoa converted again to give the Firebirds a 14-7 lead after a period.
But Monta Vista tied the game in the second period on a five-yard TD run by Bing Nieh and a conversion kick by Benjamin.
Junior running back Craig Malloy broke the tie with a five-yard touchdown run later in the second. Benjamin kicked his third point, and Monta Vista led 21-14 at intermission.
As it turns out, that would be the final score, too. The clubs played through a scoreless second half, and Monta Vista had clinched its third win of the young season.
Monta Vista will now open the De Anza Division season on Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m., against Wilcox.
The Indians, meanwhile, visit Santa Clara the same night to open the El Camino Division season.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, October 2, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.