The Sunnyvale Sun

Sports

Fremont starts year with victory

By MIKE BARNHART

It's not often that football teams ask coaches for extra conditioning, but such was the case at Fremont's Diesner Field last Friday night.

"Coach, we're going to run no matter what next week, right?" senior co-captain Daunte Mills said as he approached Ron Demonner in the aftermath of the Firebirds' season opener against Jefferson.

The head coach could only nod in agreement. After all, the Firebirds had more severe leg cramps and game delays than touchdowns in their 31-14 win over the visitors from Daly City.

On several occasions the officials halted the game so Fremont's trainer could provide treatment on the field to a player writhing in pain. During the delays, some several minutes long, teammates could be heard on the sideline sharing nutrition and fitness tips like "eat more bananas" and "get in better shape."

Even one of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's best athletes, senior Kenney Pope, needed help off of the field a couple of times. "It seemed like every time I made a big play, I cramped up," said the speedster, who delivered a 70-yard touchdown catch and other big plays for Fremont's offense, defense and special teams.

"The cramping, the lack of conditioning, that's my fault," Demonner said. "We'll have to do something about that."

When the game was on, though, the Firebirds cramped Jefferson's style with an opportunistic defense (five takeaways) and an explosive offense, and they totaled more points than in any other opener in the past 10 years. Fremont had not started a season with 30 or more points since 1997, when it beat Cupertino 34-29.

There was one thing that dropped to the ground more times than Fremont players did--the football, nine times from the hands of Jefferson ball carriers.

The Indians' severe case of the drops was apparent from the outset, as their return man could not find the handle on the opening kickoff. Fremont senior Adam Stanton pounced on the fumble at the Jefferson 17.

It took powerful Patrick Washington just two plays to get into the end zone for Fremont's first points of the season. The six-yard romp was the first of three touchdowns for the junior tailback, a workhorse on offense with 201 of the Firebirds' 350 total yards.

Washington ran the ball 21 times for 159 yards and turned a short pass from quarterback Kevin Woods into a 42-yard scoring play on the first play of the second quarter. The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder grabbed Woods' center screen toss a step or two behind the line of scrimmage, busted through a couple of arm tackles, veered right, then spun away from a pack of Jeff defenders and outraced them to paydirt.

Harrison Waid's second of four PAT kicks put the Firebirds up 14-0 just 12 seconds into the period. Later, the junior kicker ended the first half with a 33-yard field goal, sending his team trotting into the locker room with a 17-7 advantage.

The field goal capped a 12-play drive that began at Fremont's 18-yard line. The longest and best play of the drive came when Pope dove headlong and outstretched his arms to make a fingertip grab after Woods neatly lobbed a ball so that only his talented receiver could reach it. The play earned 32 yards and a first down at Jeff's 34.

Five plays later, with the clock winding down, Woods tried to hit Pope in the front left corner of the end zone, but a defensive back committed pass interference. Although time expired on the play, the defensive penalty gave Waid a chance to kick his first three-pointer of the season.

The Firebirds started the third quarter the way they opened the first two periods, scoring a touchdown on the first possession. On third-and-15 from his 30, the left-handed Woods fired a pass up the left sideline, hitting Pope in full stride with a defender on his hip. Showing no sign of the cramps that leveled him twice in the first half, once after a 30-yard interception return and later on a short kick return, Pope accelerated and pulled away for a 70-yard score and a 24-7 lead.

Pope had just the two big catches Friday night, totaling 102 yards, but he just missed a one-handed catch in the end zone in the first period. That drive stalled at the 15 and ended with Jefferson blocking a 32-yard field goal attempt.

Woods completed 5 of 14 passes for 171 yards and the two touchdowns. Although Jefferson brought a strong pass rush much of the night, pressuring Woods into two interceptions and a fumble and sacking him four times for losses of 37 yards, the senior signal-caller did not lose his cool.

"I know I need to keep my composure and not get rattled," Woods said. "I'm just trying to get better."

After Woods' long scoring pass, Jefferson answered with a 15-play touchdown drive that ate up 77 yards and nearly eight minutes. The Indians scored on a fourth-down play, a two-yard rollout by the quarterback, trimming their deficit to 10 points with 2:59 left in the third.

Fremont lost yardage and did not gain a first down on either of its next two possessions, giving up good field position to Jefferson. But Fremont's defense twice stopped Jefferson drives on fourth-down plays in the fourth quarter.

Junior nose guard Jesse Guerrero stuffed a Jeff runner to end one threat at Fremont's 23 with 9:18 remaining. Four minutes later, junior Robert Ramirez and sophomore Jordan Sever combined to halt an opponent two yards shy of a first down at the Jefferson 49.

On the next play, Washington bolted through a hole in the left side of the Jefferson line and motored 48 yards to the 1. Senior tackle Luis Roa and sophomore guard Ricky Ramirez provided nice blocks at the point of attack. Following a motion penalty, Washington ran six yards for final TD and Waid tagged on his last kick.

Center Robbie Weir, right guard J.J. Briones and right tackle Leroy Lee also provided key blocks up front to spring Washington loose throughout the contest.

Jefferson relied mainly on a ground attack (47 rushes, 165 yards), but did complete 2 of its 8 passes for 77 yards, including a 34-yarder late in the game that caught Pope by surprise.

After making several tackles and breaking up a couple of passes earlier, Pope was caught flat-footed, and the receiver ran past him to make the catch. Alertly, though, Pope stripped the ball as he was making the tackle, then recovered for Fremont's third fumble recovery of the game.

Daunte Mills, who made a touchdown-saving tackle after a 43-yard Jefferson pass play in the first quarter, intercepted Jefferson's final pass attempt with less than one minute to go.

Moments after Mills' key stop in the first quarter, Washington closed the door on that drive from his outside linebacker post. On a second-and-8 from Fremont's 9, Jefferson tried a run off left guard, but Washington quickly walloped the ball carrier, then stripped the ball and recovered for the Firebirds.

Robert Ramirez paced Fremont with 10 tackles. Guerrero and Washington both made six stops, while Pope and Mills were in on five apiece. Matt Alva, Chris Karabats, Roa, Ricky Ramirez, Sever, Stanton and E.J. Washington also chipped in with hits.

Fremont's next opponent, Mountain View, will be looking for its first points of the season when it comes to Diesner Field, Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m.

"They will give us a very stern test," Demonner predicted about the Spartans, who lost their opener 27-0 at Gilroy.