The Sunnyvale Sun
Sports
Homestead gets off to its best football start in seven seasons
By Mike Barnhart
Homestead's best football start in seven years actually began last November, after the close of the Mustangs' disheartening 2006 season, according to standout senior Darnell Green.
"You don't understand how hard we've worked!" Green said last Thursday night after the Mustangs' 21-7 win over Leland ran their non-league slate to 3-0. "We were in the weight room the day after our last game."
Thus far in 2007 Homestead has worked hard to erase the memory of last year's nine losses (one defeat was ruled a forfeit win, boosting the record to 2-8), running over a trio of Blossom Valley Athletic League opponents with a powerful running attack and a stout defense.
"Last year was demoralizing," said Green, referring to a season in which the Mustangs were outscored 337-154. "A lot of us were juniors and needed that experience. So we had to climb out from the bottom of a deep hole with hard work. Now, we've come together as a team."
In addition to the weight-room work, led by assistant coach Milo Lewis, Green pointed to a high school team camp at UC-Berkeley last June and coach Charlie Bostic's triple-session, pre-season practices in August as other factors that have shaped Homestead's early success.
"At the Cal camp we went full contact against some of the toughest teams in Northern California," Green noted. "Then the coaches put us through triple days of training--at 8 (o'clock), 12 and 2."
Although disappointed with his own team's overall performance at Diesner Field, Leland coach Mike Carrozzo applauded the effort of the Mustangs, whose 3-0 start is the best in Bostic's seven seasons at the Homestead helm. Not even the 2002 Mustangs, who won 10 games and the El Camino Division championship before bowing to Menlo-Atherton in the Central Coast Section Division II final, had a better beginning.
"Homestead is a tough, tough team," praised Carrozzo, whose Chargers tasted defeat for the first time in three outings. "The way it runs that winged-T, with its power back [senior Kevin Rogers] and a very athletic No. 7 [Green], can really pressure a defense."
Green, who packs a wallop for a 160-pounder, was a playmaker on both sides of the ball. He scored on a 14-yard touchdown burst around the right side--the only points of the first half--and set up Homestead's final scoring drive when he collected his third interception of the season early in the fourth quarter.
Rogers, who packs a bigger wallop at 180 pounds, ran 26 times for 106 yards and his sixth touchdown of the season.
The Mustangs' biggest bronco, 220-pounder J.J. Kizine, provided several key blocks and impressed when his number was called in short-yardage situations. Kizine's eight carries totaled 35 yards, but more importantly, delivered four first downs and a touchdown.
Both teams will take a week off preparing for league openers. Homestead will host Monta Vista at Diesner on Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m.
Leland held an advantage in field position throughout most of the first half, but could not cash it in for any points. Homestead, which punted to end its first three possessions, finally broke through after an accurate, but short, 40-yard field goal attempt by Leland's Will Boring.
Mustangs take lead
Starting at its 20 with 6:50 left in the half, Homestead methodically marched 80 yards on 15 plays, gaining all but nine yards on the ground. Until Green scored, his 12-yard sweep was the longest gain of the drive. Following the blocks of tackles Zack Snyder and Philip Birton, guards Casey Anker and Ben Kimure, center Jeff Neale and tight end Penn Lillie, Homestead ball carriers kept the drive alive three times on third-down runs.
Rogers, who carried six times for 20 yards during the drive, twice picked up first downs and Kizine banged inside to earn another. Senior quarterback Rex Blodgett threw only two passes along the way, but may have provided the biggest play with his voice on a fourth-and-4 situation at Leland's 19.
After Bostic ordered a timeout with 1:01 left in the half, Blodgett used a hard count that drew the Chargers offside for a five-yard penalty and another first down.
On the next play, Green used the blocks of seniors Kimure and Birton to dart around the right side and break the scoreless tie with 54 seconds left in the half. Kicker Aaron Godwin's PAT attempt sailed wide right, leaving the score 6-0.
Leland went ahead early in the third quarter, courtesy of two long jaunts by speedster Kevin Krail.
Homestead, trailing for the first time this season, regained the lead with a time-consuming 13-play, 62-yard drive. The Mustangs kept the ball on the ground, Blodgett mixing his hand-offs to all three of his top runners. Leland contained them, but did not stop them. No run gained more than nine yards, but four earned first downs.
Green rushed six times for 31 yards on the drive. Kizine ran just twice, but both plays were huge. First, he ran behind Neale up the middle to get just enough on a third-and-five to move the chains. Later, on perhaps the most crucial play of the game--fourth-and-one at Leland's 14--Kizine burst up the middle for nine yards to the 5-yard line. He fumbled at the end of the run, but Lillie outwrestled a Leland defender for the recovery.
Rogers scores TD
Rogers put the Mustangs back in front on the next play, skirting the left side with 3:50 left in the third quarter. Blodgett and junior receiver Tommy McCormick hooked up on a quick slant-in pass for a two-point conversion and a 14-7 lead.
Leland made nice progress on its next possession, but on the last play of the quarter, junior free safety Derek Shull alertly fell on a Leland fumble for Homestead.
After a Homestead punt gave Leland the ball right back at its 45, Green cut inside of a Leland receiver to make a diving interception.
Homestead then embarked on its final scoring drive, churning up 68 yards and five minutes of the clock with 10 runs. Kizine capped the drive, barreling in from the 3 with 4:56 to go, and Godwin kicked the extra point.
Linebacker John Batinich, the only sophomore on the Mustangs' roster, punctuated an excellent game (17 tackles) with stops for losses on Leland's final two plays of the game. Kizine, Courtney Dance and Jose Aguilar helped Batinich on the last play, a fourth-down quarterback sack.
Homestead junior Kris Smith also scored a sack during the Chargers' final drive. Teammates Kevin Condon, Ceazar Agront, Anker, Kizine, Kimure and Chris Nakamoto also contributed key hits for the Homestead defense.
