The Sunnyvale Sun

Sports

With Backo out, Mustangs can't hang with Cats

By DICK SPARRER

Brian Backo was off to a great start.

The Homestead running back had 35 yards on five carries, and there were still a couple of minutes left to play in the first quarter in last Friday night's game at Los Gatos.

But it was on his fifth carry that his night of football would come to an end. Backo, who means so much to the Mustangs as a ball carrier and a defensive back, had to be helped from the field after suffering an ankle injury. He wouldn't return the rest of the night.

Still, the Mustangs managed to finish what Backo had started. His two runs for 22 yards had started Homestead on a touchdown drive that Kevin Rogers capped with a 1-yard plunge to tie the game 7-7.

But without Backo on the field, the Mustangs couldn't sustain any sort of drive the rest of the night and ended up dropping a 49-13 Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division decision to the Wildcats.

Homestead, 0-2 in the division and 1-5 for the year, will try to get back on the winning track this week. The Mustangs will play host to Wilcox on Oct. 20, 3:15 p.m. The Chargers are 1-2 in league play and 2-4 overall after losing 33-25 to Milpitas last week.

The Mustangs threw a scare into the mighty Wildcats by hanging right with Los Gatos for a quarter.

Penalties stopped the Mustangs on their first possession of the night, and Gatos moved in on just five plays to score the night's first TD.

But Homestead came right back.

Shamir Ross ran back the LG kick-off 29 yards to the 30-yard line to get the Mustangs going, then they drove 70 yards on 13 plays to tie things up. A 10-yard run by Ross, a nine-yard run by Rogers and Backo's two runs for 22 keyed the drive that was aided by three Gatos penalties. The backs were running behind an offensive front of tackles Josh Laber and Phillip Birton, guards Jonathon Pique and Matt Power and center Jeff Neale.

Rogers finished the drive when he followed Neale and Power over the right side for the score. Andrew Galen's extra point tied it 7-7 with just three seconds left in the first period.

But the Wildcats took just two plays after the kick-off to score again. They stopped the Mustangs on three plays and a punt, then scored again.

The Cats repeated that formula again to go up 28-7 before Homestead looked like it was starting to move. Rogers had a pair of runs for 14 yards, but the Wildcats recovered a Homestead fumble and turned it into a TD.

After three plays and another Homestead punt, the Cats seemed to be in business again. But Darnel Green thwarted the Los Gatos scoring bid with an interception with just 33 seconds left in the half.

Ross ran 12 yards for a first down after the kick-off, but time ran out on the Mustangs.

Los Gatos scored on its first possession of the second half to go up 42-7 and later scored again to make it 49-7.

Homestead managed one more touchdown late the game. A 19-yard scramble by quarterback Alex Jones, a 10-yard run by Rogers and an eight-yard dash by Ross set up a 12-yard touchdown run by Rogers.

Rogers finished the night with 56 yards on 13 carries and Ross added 51 yards on 15 tries. Backo added the 35 yards on his five first-quarter runs.

Jones and Power led the defensive effort with seven tackles apiece, and Power teamed with Galen to block a Los Gatos punt that Rex Blodgett Jr. recovered.

Green had six tackles to go with his interception and Dominic Chapot and Ross were also in on six tackles each. Birton and Evan Matthews had four tackles apiece and Blodgett and Neale had two each. Alex Lumidao, Laber, Pique, Ceazar Agront, Galen, Tim Vanderet, Matt Luan and Nick Nguyen were also in on tackles.

Bliss leads Knights

Jacob Bliss scored four touchdowns, helping The King's Academy remain unbeaten with a 34-12 home win over St. Elizabeth of Oakland.

Bliss rushed for 153 yards and three touchdowns, and he caught three passes for 92 yards and a touchdown for TKA, which improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Bay Football League. Quarterback Sammy Sussman completed 4 of 6 passes for 118 yards, 66 coming on the scoring aerial to Bliss.

Kyle McDonald added a TD run for the Knights, who led 27-0 at halftime.

Leading TKA's defense were Travis Johnson (12 tackles), Jordan Martin (12), Josiah Auer (10) and Chris Gehlbach (six).

Next up for the Knights is a non-league game against St. Francis of Watsonville, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m.

Wilcox falls to Milpitas

Senior Justice Patterson ran for three Wilcox touchdowns, but the Chargers dropped a 33-25 decision to visiting Milpitas in an SCVAL De Anza Division contest on Oct. 13.

With the defeat, Wilcox's division record falls to 1-2 and its overall mark to 2-4. The Chargers hope to even their De Anza slate when they travel to Homestead (0-2, 1-5) on Oct. 20, 3:15 p.m.

Patterson totaled 139 yards on the ground, including scoring runs of one, 52 and 56 yards, raising his rushing yardage total to 594 yards in six games.

Charger Anthony Volk ran 27 yards for another Wilcox score, his first touchdown of the season.

Eagles stop Fremont

After scoring at least 21 points in three consecutive games, including a 41-40 triumph over Del Mar, Fremont has managed just seven points in its past two contests. The Firebirds suffered a 35-7 setback to Los Altos on Oct. 13.

For Fremont, now 0-2 in the El Camino Division and 1-5 overall, the next opponent will be division rival Gunn. The Titans will invade Diesner Field on Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m.

Mike Barnhart contributed to this story.