The senior linemen were whooping it up, laughing, sharing in the revelry with other Firebirds following their 7-6 victory over visiting Willow Glen.

All teams want to win season openers, but there was more to Fremont's post-game jubilation at Diesner Field last Saturday night.

"We had never beaten Willow Glen," said Bragas, the offensive right guard. "Three years in a row, two years of frosh-soph and last year on varsity, we lost. Not this year though--we wanted it more tonight."

Frazier, a two-way lineman who saved his best two defensive plays for the last minute when Willow Glen quarterback Tyler Smith was desperately trying to rally his team, seconded the emotion.

"They didn't beat us this year!" announced Frazier, a 6-foot-3, 240-pounder, who was giddy and giggly. "The whole defensive line had an attitude."

Willow Glen's defensive unit had an attitude too, turning back several Fremont scoring threats, including a tremendous goalline stand in the third quarter.

"We couldn't ask any more from our defense tonight," praised Willow Glen coach Andy Penwarden.

The only dent the Rams allowed Fremont to make in the scoreboard was in the first quarter, a three-yard run by junior Nathan Cathcart behind the blocks of Bragas and right tackle Alex Tucker. When junior Jason Custer's first varsity PAT kick was a success, the Firebirds led 7-0 with 2:06 left in the period.

Willow Glen responded immediately. Jose Ramirez fielded the ensuing kick-off at the 13-yard line near the left hash mark, ran wide to the right, then cut up the sideline right in front of the Rams' bench. A block by junior Jason Gibilisco helped Ramirez outrace the Firebirds' kick coverage for an 87-yard touchdown.

Smith, who handled Willow Glen's punting chores in addition to the quarterback duties, lined up to attempt a game-tying kick. He never had a chance, as the center snap was fumbled and Cathcart crashed in from the right side to bury the holder, who had tried to get up and run with the ball.

After that, both team's offenses made some noise, but none were loud enough to ring up more points on the scoreboard. Fremont's Kevin Jullian, a speedy 5-7 senior playing his first high school game, returned a fourth-quarter punt 60 yards for an apparent score, but an illegal block nullified it.

The loudest noise actually came after the game when the elated Firebirds emptied a bucket of ice water onto one of their assistant coaches.

Not even the knowledge of an apparent knee injury to one of their best players, Cathcart, dampened the Firebirds' spirits.

Cathcart, his team's top ground gainer with 67 yards on 17 carries, was helped off of the field late in the third quarter and never returned.

"I'm not sure of his status," Fremont head coach Andy Walczak reported after the game. "I think it looked more serious than it really was."

Cathcart will sorely be missed on both sides of the ball if unable to recover in time to play at Independence on Sept. 17, 7:30 p.m. The 76ers blasted Cupertino 47-0.

"This was a good first game for both defenses," praised Walczak, who cited the play of senior Adrian Arias and junior Joe Maes, Fremont's pair of inside linebackers.

Both teams intercepted passes in the end zone. Ram Nick Abbatelli ended an eight-play Fremont march in the first quarter when he snagged a pass in the back of the end zone. Fremont senior Juan Arce picked off a Willow Glen pass in the second period, ending a Rams drive that started at their 48-yard line and reached Fremont's 9.

Defensive linemen Tucker and Ruben Chagoya both recovered fumbles for Fremont, and Willow Glen's Gibilisco made a nice strip of the ball from a Firebird running back.

Fremont's pass rush, led by Frazier, pressured Willow Glen's quarterback throughout the evening, sacking him three times and forcing him to hurry several of his passes. In fact, the Rams completed just three of 18 passes for 42 yards.

Helping Frazier force the action from the defensive line were Tucker, Sean Garrett, Sam Wilborn, Chagoya and Giovanni Connor. Other Firebird tacklers included Kevin Lincoln, Arce, Cathcart, Jullian and Ronnie Lauretta.

After Abbatelli made his second interception of the game, outjumping a Fremont receiver at the Rams' 15 early in the second quarter, the Firebirds stuck to the ground game. Fremont ran the ball 47 times for 180 yards. After Cathcart, Maes and Kevin Church were the leading rushers. Maes rushed six times for 38 yards, including a long gainer of 25. Church was handed the ball 13 times and he totaled 33.

Joing Bragas and Tucker on the offensive line most of the game were junior Mark Pariaszevski at center, Chagoya at left guard and Frazier at left tackle.

Quarterback Cookie Mills turned a rollout around right end into the longest play from scrimmage for the Firebirds. The 36-yard scamper to the Willow Glen 14 kept alive a drive that chewed up seven minutes of the third quarter. It began on Fremont's 34 and ended with a fantastic Willow Glen goalline stand at the 1. After Cathcart ran a first-and-goal play three yards to the one, he was stopped short of the goal by a crush of Rams on second down. Cathcart was injured on that play.

After a lengthy injury timeout, the Rams stopped Maes twice into the middle of the line.

Fast start for Knights

David Norris was not a part of The Kings Academy's successful football team last year, but the 5-foot-10, 160-pound senior certainly has been a big part of the Knights' fast start in 2004.

Norris ran for three touchdowns and kicked a 30-yard field goal and three PATs, leading the Knights to a 30-14 triumph over host James Lick of San Jose on Sept. 11.

It was the second win in as many weeks for Kings. Norris also scored a touchdown in the opener, an 18-9 win against Prospect.

Josh Montoro, another senior, ran five yards for the Knights' first points at Lick. Norris added scoring romps of 32 and seven yards during the first quarter. Norris kicked a point-after following each first-period score, and his field goal put the Knights in front 24-0 at halftime.

The Comets began the second half by returning the kick-off 85 yards for a touchdown, then pulled to within 24-14 in the fourth quarter on a short run and a two-point conversion. Norris' 11-yard run capped the scoring.

A week earlier against Prospect the Knights managed just 37 rushing yards, but 11 of them were worth 12 points. Montoro scored on a 2-yard run and Norris added a 9-yard bolt, giving the Knights a 12-3 lead.

Quarterback Tim Liu's 4-yard toss to Sammy Sussman increased the Knights' lead to 18-3 by halftime. Kings did not yield a touchdown until the fourth quarter.

The Knights do not play this week, but resume action on Sept. 25. They will travel to Greenfield, south of Salinas, for their third straight game away from home.

Kings will begin a stretch of three successive home games on Oct. 2 when it plays host to Albany.

Homestead conquers Hill

Senior running back Chris Morris picked up where he left off last season, helping Homestead start the season with a big bang, 48-0 over Andrew Hill.

Morris, a powerful 6-foot, 210-pounder, scored two of his three touchdowns during the Mustangs' 21-point first quarter.

Homestead, which dominated Hill on both sides of the ball, led 35-0 at halftime. Morris, the Offensive Player of the Year in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's De Anza Division in 2003, scored on short bursts of seven and five yards in the first quarter and tacked on a 1-yard TD run in the third quarter.

Senior quarterback Jake Mecchi passed for two touchdowns. He connected with senior Aaron Hickson on a 25-yard score in the first quarter and Craig Moberg on a 20-yarder in the second period. Mecchi and Hickson also hooked for a two-point conversion that gave Homestead an early 14-0 lead.

Junior running back Jay Atkins and sophomore Matt Powers added short touchdown runs for the Mustangs, who scored all of their points during the first three periods.

Defensive back Tyler Daily doubled as the Mustangs placekicker, booting four PAT kicks. Homestead's defense registered five sacks, with senior linebacker Greg Jackson getting two of them.

The Mustangs expect a better challenge Sept. 17 from another team of Mustangs. Homestead travels to San Bruno for a 7:30 p.m. contest against Capuchino, which saddled Homestead with a 38-35 defeat last season.