Homestead came out on top 34-26, but not without some serious competition from the Matadors.

Monta Vista struck first on a combination of five plays for 80 yards and a touchdown. Monta Vista made the extra point and the Mats were quickly up 7-0.

But Homestead answered right back. Tim Kimball and Chris Morris each carried the ball for short gains, then Jake Mecchi connected with Kimball on a 32-yard pass over the middle that left Homestead on the Monta Vista 19-yard line. Jay Atkins powered his way in from there and Tyler Dailey booted the extra point to take the lead.

With a few penalties to help them out, Monta Vista drove the ball down the field and Jason Dias hit Garrett McManus for a 21-yard touchdown pass.

Homestead took over drove the ball to the center of the field, but the Mustangs fumbled and Monta Vista's Taylor Oberhelman picked it up.

Monta Vista would hold the ball into the beginning of the second quarter, but would find the Homestead defense overwhelming and had to punt.

Homestead's offense took advantage of its strong defensive play and pushed the ball down the field. Morris and Atkins traded off carrying the ball and together moved the length of the field where Mecchi would take it in himself for another touchdown.

Homestead took the kick off after the half but was struck with misfortune after moving the ball to midfield, fumbling it away to Monta Vista.

Though Homestead's offensive unit made a mistake, the defense stood firm and would not allow the Matadors to move the football.

The Mustangs took advantage of the opportunity and pushed the ball down the field, where they would score on a 7-yard run by Morris.

But Monta Vista would not be silenced. The Mats were led by Dias to another touchdown.

But Homestead attacked Monta Vista's defense with a vengeance. Dailey received the kick off on the 22-yard line and brought it out 11 yards. Then Morris took over. The speedster ran the ball four yards on the first play and then broke away for a 63-yard touchdown run to regain the lead 27-20.

Yet again, the Matadors would answer quickly. In only six plays and a little more than a minute and a half, Monta Vista drove the length of the field and Dias connected with McManus on a 10-yard TD toss.

The ball switched hands twice and the Mustangs found themselves with the ball and only a few minutes left in the game. At its own 39, Homestead began the charge. Morris took the ball and broke it outside for 32 yards before being knocked out of bounds. He would then go another nine yards on the following play and two plays later broke through the center of the line for 19 yards and the final touchdown of the day, giving the Mustangs a commanding 34-26 lead with only 1:40 to go in the game.

"Our offensive line played very well," said Homestead coach Charlie Bostic. "We were able to rush for over 300 yards."

Homestead will host Gunn on Oct. 1, 3:30 p.m.

Kings wins third straight

The King's Academy jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter and held on for a 21-19 non-league victory at Greenfield.

It was the third consecutive win for the Knights, who will play their first home game at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 2 against Albany of the North Coast Section.

After a scoreless first period, junior running back Paul Montoro ran three yards for a touchdown and David Norris booted the first of three PAT kicks for a 7-0 lead. Then, after senior J.T. Martin returned a punt 33 yards to the Greenfield 30, Martin turned Tim Liu's 5-yard hitch pass into a 30-yard touchdown sprint up the right sideline.

Greenfield closed the margin to 14-7 before halftime and scored the only points of the third quarter. After a scintillating 65-yard run pulled Greenfield within 14-13, the Knights' PAT defense preserved the narrow lead. Junior nose guard Ji Jo and senior tackle Jake Lassy drove a Greenfield lineman backward into the flight path of a low kick, and the ball smacked into the lineman's backside.

Midway through the fourth quarter, King's coach Ron Kellner called timeout with a fourth-and-three situation at Greenfield's 18.

"We were just looking to get a first down," Kellner explained, "but Norris cut the sweep inside and picked up the touchdown."

Norris, who led the Knights offense with 102 yards on 17 carries, followed fullback Josh Montoro around right end, then cut behind Martin's crackback block and scampered into the end zone. His kick made it 21-13.

Greenfield scored a TD run with about four minutes to go, cutting the score to 21-19, then tried to pass for two points. However, 6-foot-4 defensive end Kyle Tompane knocked down the attempt.

Tompane also had eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Montoro was the leading tackler for King's with 11. Martin was in on eight stops. Dan Milton recovered a fumble for the Knights' defense and Jo had a quarterback sack.

Maes shines in Fremont loss

In a game that literally ran away from Fremont in the third quarter, the Firebirds' play against Saratoga on Sept. 23 was much more spirited than the final score of 44-3 might indicate.

Fremont showed an ability to control the football, especially when big junior fullback Joe Maes was running between the tackles. Amazingly, the Firebirds totaled 64 offensive plays to Saratoga's 33. Unfortunately for the Firebirds, they couldn't put the ball across the goalline.

Meanwhile, Saratoga scored long touchdown runs on each of their three plays in the third quarter, turning an 18-3 halftime lead into a rout.

Fremont's only points came early in the second quarter on a 37-yard field goal by junior Jason Custer.

The Firebirds were just inches from paydirt in the third quarter. Starting on their 30-yard line, the Firebirds chewed up more than eight minutes with a 15-play drive, all runs. Five different ball carriers followed the blocks of center Mark Pariaszevski, guards Kirk Bragas and Ruben Chagoya, and tackles Alex Tucker and Emil Frazier.

The Firebirds picked up four first downs during the drive, including two fourth-down runs by quarterback Cookie Mills. The second came following a Fremont timeout on a fourth-and-seven situation at Saratoga's 16. Mills went back to pass, then scrambled away from the defense to the nine.

On the next play Maes, a 6-foot, 215-pounder, bulled his way to the goalline, twisting and turning to avoid tacklers. Then, as he lunged for the goal, the ball was knocked loose. Saratoga recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

Maes ran the ball 16 times for 111 of the Firebirds' 159 rushing yards.

After Maes, Mills was Fremont's most productive ground gainer with 37 yards. However, the junior quarterback was dropped for losses five times, totaling 36 yards.

Mills attempted just five passes, completing three for short gains. Kevin Jullian caught two balls for 14 yards and Wahab Shayek grabbed a four-yarder.

Defensively, Giovanni Connor had a good game for Fremont.

Fremont, 1-2, starts SCVAL El Camino Division play against Lynbrook on Oct. 1, 7:30 p.m., at Cupertino.

Mike Barnhart contributed to this story.