Price carried 18 times for 376 yards and five touchdowns last week to lead the Pioneers to a gaudy 68-41 win over Fremont in one of the strangest games played in the Central Coast Section this season.

Imagine, though, what Price's numbers would have looked like had he not had two touchdown runs called back!

Price had TD runs of 62 and 57 yards nullified because of penalties in the game. He was credited with some of that yardage, but take away the flags and he would have finished the night with 20 carries for 461 yards and seven touchdowns—and he didn't even play the fourth quarter!

"It was important for us to get Jonathan Price going," said Cupertino coach Jay Braun. "Last week he only carried 11 times and against Monta Vista he only carried nine times. He's been banged up."

"Tonight our goal was to get him the ball," he added.

The Pioneers got Price the football, and he got the Pioneers a victory. But it was a win that didn't come easy.

Cupertino opened up a commanding 19-0 lead in the first quarter, but Fremont came storming back in the second period. Mike Silva, benched in the first quarter for disciplinary reasons, took over at quarterback for the Firebirds in the second, and by intermission Fremont had a 34-27 lead.

"All of sudden he came in and they got the lead," said Braun of Silva. "He started to make things happy. My hat's off to that kid—my hat's off to Fremont."

"But I felt, even in the second quarter and at halftime, I felt like we were in control of this game," added Braun. "They didn't prove they could stop our offense."

They couldn't. Cupertino ran up 584 yards on the ground on the way to 620 yards of total offense in the win. Five different players ran for touchdowns for the Pioneers, with Price leading the way.

Fremont didn't have a bad offensive night either, though. Jay Atkins carried 22 times for 158 yards and Silva gained 67 yards on 13 tries and hit on 8 of 23 passes for 143 yards to lead the Firebirds to 327 yards of total offense. Aaron Hickson caught five passes for 63 yards and Chris Knopf had three grabs for 80 yards. Gabe Ruiz supported with 39 yards rushing on five carries.

Working up front for the Firebirds were tackles Emil Frazier and Jesse Maes, guards R.J. Davis and Earl Miguel and center Mike Medina.

Cupertino struck quickly in the first quarter. Colby Farr picked up a nice downfield block from Asim Asim to go 28 yards for a touchdown, Price followed a key block from Nick Ramirez-Baker at the point of attack and broke a 57-yard TD run, and Price took off on electrifying 45-yard TD dash with 27.9 seconds left in the first period. Todd Fitzgerald kicked the extra point to make it 19-0.

That's when Silva took over for Fremont. Atkins took an option pitch from Silva to go 22 yards, then Silva tossed to Knopf for 33 yards and a score.

A pass interception by Gabe Ruiz got Fremont the ball back, and Silva threw a 20-yard TD toss to Hickson.

A 19-yard run by Silva set up a 42-yard touchdown run by Atkins on a draw. And when Sean Garrett kicked his third extra point, the Firebirds led 21-19.

But they weren't finished yet. Juan Arce recovered an onside kick at the Cupertino 39-yard line, and Silva went right to Knopf with a 39-yard touchdown pass.

The Pioneers answered back. A 33-yard run by Price and an 11-yard scramble by Fitzgerald set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Price behind a Ramirez-Baker block. Price ran for the 2-point conversion, and the Pioneers trailed just 28-27.

Fremont drove to the Cupertino 12, missing a 28-yard field goal attempt just before the half. But with just .4 seconds left on the clock, the Pioneers elected to go to the air. Sean Osentowski foiled that strategy when he picked off the pass and raced 50 yards for a touchdown to give the Firebirds a 34-27 lead at intermission.

But Cupertino scored the first six times it touched the football in the second half to turn the close game into a runaway.

Fremont's only touchdown of the second half came on a 5-yard pass from Silva to Hickson.

Ruiz had four tackles and a pass interception and Edgar Mazariegos had four tackles—including a sack—and a fumble recovery to lead the Firebirds defensively. Osentowski had three tackles and the pass interception.

Joe Weber, Davis, Garrett, Miguel, Adrian Arias, Maes, Nathan Cathcart and Everett Bell were also in on tackles for Fremont.

The Firebirds will host Santa Clara on Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m., at Diesner Field.