Photograph by Christy Kinskey

Homestead junior Ramont Thomas (24) blasts through the Monta Vista line in a 41-20 win over Monta Vista. The Mustangs upset Mountain View 27-26 last weekend to create a three-way tie for first place in the El Camino Division.




Fremont, 'Tino play for share of title

Homestead's upset creates tie for first

By Dick Sparrer

There's a three-way tie for first place in the football race in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

It's a tie, though, that won't last through the weekend.

Cupertino and Fremont will break that deadlock one way or another on Saturday night when the two division powers collide at Diesner Field.

The clubs will enter the 7:30 p.m. game on Nov. 10 with matching 4-1 league records. The only loss for each club came at the hands of Mountain View, the third club in the three-way tie.

Mountain View will wrap up the regular season at home on Nov. 9 when the Spartans host Monta Vista at 2:45 p.m. A Mountain View victory secures no worse than a title tie for the Spartans. But a Monta Vista upset would make Saturday's Cupertino-Fremont game very interesting indeed.

At the very least, the Pioneers and Firebirds will be playing for a share of the division championship, though Mountain View would get the nod for the Central Coast Section playoffs by virtue of its regular season wins over both clubs.

But should the Matadors upset the Spartans on Friday afternoon, Fremont and Cupertino will be playing for sole ownership of the league championship and a certain berth in the CCS playoffs.

So it's a three-team race heading into the final weekend of the regular season--and all because of a fourth team, Homestead.

The Mustangs upset Mountain View 27-26 last Friday afternoon to stick the Spartans with their only win of the league season.

Homestead trailed 26-13 heading into the final period against Mountain View, but the Mustangs rallied for two fourth-quarter TDs to pull off the upset.

The Mustangs, 4-2 in the division and 5-4 for the year, got close when senior Steven Nichols scored on a 1-yard run. Brian Maihack kicked an important extra point, but Homestead had cut the lead to 26-20.

It was a 15-yard touchdown pass from junior Craig Maynard to junior wide receiver Garren Strong that tied the game. Maihack came on to break the tie, and the senior did just that when he booted the extra point through the uprights.

The Spartans led early, but the Mustangs fought back to go in front. With his club down 6-0, junior Will Faules scored on an 11-yard run and Maihack converted to give the Mustangs a 7-6 lead in the first quarter.

Strong hauled in a 95-yard touchdown pass from Maynard in the second period to give the Mustangs a 13-6 lead, but the extra point attempt failed.

The Spartans scored, but couldn't convert and went in down 13-12 at intermission.

Mountain View scored two touchdowns in the third to take the 26-13 lead, but that just set the stage for Homestead's fourth-quarter comeback.

The loss left the Spartans 4-1 in the division and 7-2 for the year.

Homestead has wrapped up the El Camino Division season. The Mustangs will close out the season when they visit powerful Milpitas on Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m., for a non-league game.

Firebirds win

Fremont moved into the first-place tie last week with a come-from-behind 19-14 win over Los Altos.

The Firebirds and Eagles were locked in a 7-7 tie at intermission, and Fremont trailed 14-13 after three quarters. But Mike Mattman blasted over from the 1-yard line for a fourth-quarter touchdown that gave the Firebirds their margin of victory.

The clubs started slowly, and it was Los Altos scoring first with a 65-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. But the Firebirds answered right back with a 1-yard touchdown run by Donyell Johnson. Javier Eredia kicked the extra point that tied the game 7-7.

The Eagles regained the lead in the third quarter, but a 4-yard touchdown pass from Delainy Durgin to Donnell Forks pulled Fremont close at 14-13. That set up Mattman's game-winning touchdown in the fourth.

The win helped the Firebirds improve to 5-4 for the year.

A week earlier the 'Birds had dropped a 30-15 non-league decision to powerhouse Wilcox of the De Anza Division. The Chargers opened up a 21-0 lead before Fremont got on the board in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard TD toss from Durgin to Jesse Enchill. Eredia's kick cut the lead to 21-7.

But a safety and an interception return for a score pushed the Wilcox lead to 30-7.

Fremont wouldn't quit, though, and responded with one last score late in the game. Durgin went back to Enchill with a 10-yard touchdown pass, then the two hooked up for the 2-point conversion.

Pioneers fall

Cupertino, like Fremont, is 5-4 for the year following a 21-20 loss to Santa Clara last weekend. The Pioneers led 13-7 after a period and 20-14 after three quarters, but a fourth-quarter touchdown and extra point helped the Bruins pull out the non-league win.

Mats take Vikings

Monta Vista could finish the El Camino season with a .500 record with a win over Mountain View this Friday, thanks to a 29-7 victory over winless Lynbrook last week.

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