Fremont's Tully Banta-Cain (white helmet) makes the hit on the Cupertino quarterback in action earlier this season. Banta-Cain and the Firebirds will turn their attention to Homestead this week.
By DICK SPARRER
It doesn't count for anything.
Homestead has already locked up no worse than a title tie in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, and Fremont has done the same in the El Camino Division.
So when the Mustangs and Firebirds collide in a 7:30 p.m. nonleague game at Diesner Field on Nov. 8, there will be nothing at stake.
Yeah, right!
There may be nothing at stake in the SCVAL standings, but the two champions will play for pride in the Friday night game.
Homestead, a powerhouse in the rugged De Anza Division, brings in its impressive 7-1 season record, and Fremont counters with a pretty solid 6-2 mark of its own.
What's more, both clubs bring explosive running backs into game--Tony Elam of Homestead and Jerrick Powell of Fremont--who could light things up at a moment's notice.
Homestead comes into the game after belting defending division champion Wilcox 20-6 last Friday night.
Elam turned a couple of 13-yard runs into first-period touchdowns, and he also ran in for a two-point conversion to give the Mustangs a 14-0 lead after a period.
That's how it remained until the third when David Delgado blasted over from the one for a score.
Wilcox broke up the shutout in the final period, but the Mustangs had all they needed to guarantee the win.
The win left the Mustangs 5-0 in the division with just one game left to play.
Fremont, meanwhile, won by forfeit over Los Altos last weekend. The win left the Firebirds 5-0 in the division with one game remaining, a Nov. 15 clash with winless Lynbrook.
The Firebirds will send Powell and quarterback Lamar Harvey out behind their huge offensive line in the clash with Homestead this Friday.
Tight end Tully Banta-Cain, a two-way star for Fremont, will lead the charge up front along with tackles Warren Rick and Ozzie Villagomez, guards Justin Stichter and Domingo Garcia and center Art Alegria.
Fullback Tony Brown is another key figure in the Fremont offfense along with wide receivers Gabe Atondo, Gilbert Atondo and Anthony Roberson.
Alegria, Brown and Banta-Cain are key defensive players for the Firebirds.
Girls' Volleyball
There are a couple of league matches remaining for the Homestead girls' volleyball team.
But the outcome of those two final bouts will have no impact on the final outcome in the race for the title in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League--the Mustangs already have that on ice.
Chris Crader's Mustangs wrapped up the division title with two wins last week.
Homestead squared off with Gunn in an important match to close out play last week. The Mustangs had one loss in league play heading into the battle, and the Titans had just two.
A Gunn win would have left the two clubs locked in a first-place tie with matching 10-2 records. And it was still anyone's match heading into the third game of the best-of-five bout.
Melissa Coombes helped the Mustangs take the first game 15-5, but Gunn came back to get the second game 15-11.
Erin Norcia, Donna Tripiano, Kasia Lesiak and the rest of the Mustangs came through with 15-9, 15-11 wins in the final two games of the match, though, to lift Homestead to the important victory.
The Mustangs had opened the week with a solid 15-2, 15-2, 15-7 win over Santa Clara.
Homestead is now 11-1 in league play and 24-9 for the year heading into the final week of the season.
Fremont, meanwhile, dropped a pair of decisions in El Camino Division play last week. The Firebirds lost 15-7, 15-6, 15-3 to Gunn to help the Titans set up that key match later in the week, and the 'Birds fell 15-11, 18-16, 15-8 to Saratoga.
Jessica Ackerman, Toni Alhmann, Christine Andrade, Ana DeCastro, Linda Doan, Patty Escobar, Miriam Guadamuz, Kimberly Johnson, Lisa Mariona, Kris Owren, Charlotte Salvacion and Matalie Woo made up the Fremont squad this fall.
Girls' Tennis
Homestead and Fremont each came up winners last week.
Brie Ahern posted a 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 1 singles to lead the Mustangs to a tight 4-3 win over Los Gatos in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. The Mustangs are now 4-8 in league play and 5-9 for the year.
Fremont, meanwhile, turned back Milpitas 5-2 to jump to 5-7 in the El Camino Division of the SCVAL.
Nancy Bui nailed a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles and Tarang Saini won 6-0, 6-4 at No. 4 singles to lead the Firebirds to the victory.
Fremont swept all three doubles matches with Theresa Phan and Tri Minh Hoang winning 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1, Julie Huang and Nina Nguyen winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 and Van-Ahn Nguyen and Virginia Li winning by default at No. 3.
The Firebirds had lost 7-0 to Palo Alto to open the week.
Boys' Water Polo
Brandan Cable pumped in seven goals, but the Fremont water polo team dropped a tough 19-13 nonleague decision to Piedmont Hills last week.
Chris Stockhaus supported Cable's effort with two goals and Patrick Ohara, Justin Kirk and Donald Moulds added a goal each in the loss.
The Firebirds trailed 4-3 after a quarter and were down just 10-7 at the half. But the Pirates took control of the game by outscoring Fremont 5-1 in the third.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 6, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.