The Willow Glen Resident Rams are impressive against Monta Vista Willow Glen knocks off strong ball club in a 26-20 victory By Dick Sparrer There was a day when the Willow Glen football team would have been overmatched by a team from the rugged De Anza Division of the Mt. Hamilton Athletic League. That day, however, was not last Saturday. The Rams proved they are a team to be reckoned with this fall when they knocked off a big, strong Monta Vista club 26-20 in a nonleague game Saturday night at Cupertino. "It was really sweet," Willow Glen coach Bob Parker said of the victory. "They are huge." "There was a real difference in styles," the coach added. "They like to run the ball, and we can throw the ball a lot." They certainly did on Saturday. Willow Glen quarterback David Macchi threw the football 35 times, completing 19 of those tosses for 281 yards and four touchdowns. "It was a perfect second game for us," Parker said, whose club opened the year with a 34-14 win over Lincoln. "We needed a game that would toughen us up." The Rams were tough when they needed to be late in the game, tough enough to pull out the one-touchdown victory. Willow Glen trailed 20-12 after three periods and appeared to be in trouble when a drive stalled in its own territory. But Monta Vista fumbled a punt and Fernando Betancourt was there to recover the football for the Rams. Macchi tossed to Cory Hare for 12 yards and a touchdown, but the Rams missed the two-point conversion so still trailed 20-18. But the defense stiffened and got the Rams the ball back after the kickoff. "We just stuffed them," Parker said. "They went three and out." The Rams started moving after the punt, but faced a crucial fourth-and-nine. A cool Macchi fired a strike to Nich Holt, though, and the receiver stepped out of bounds for a first down. Macchi capped the drive with a 20-yard scoring toss to Hare, and he tossed to John Fernandez for the two-point conversion. "We faced the one crucial situation," Parker said of the fourth-down play. "But nobody panicked." Willow Glen dropped back into a prevent defense, and Monta Vista, predominantly a running team, tried to go to the air. Eddy Sanchez deflected a first-down pass, and Fernandez went up in a crowd to make the interception and clinch the win for the Rams. "It was a very emotional game," Parker said. "It was nice to see that kind of emotion this early in the season." Monta Vista looked to be in control of the game early. "They had great field position," Parker said. "We gave away a little bit, but when we had to stop them in the second half, we did." Monta Vista took a 7-0 lead in the first, but Willow Glen answered back with a 15-yard Macchi to Hare touchdown pass. The Matadors took advantage of a fumble recovery to score again before intermission, but Holt blocked the extra point to hold the lead at 13-6. "Considering the field position they had, we felt 13-6 was not that bad," Parker said. "We had kind of panicked and got caught up in the fast pace of the game." But the Rams relaxed and started to play their brand of football in the second half. Macchi hooked up with Hare on an 80-yard screen pass, but the Rams were still a point back at 13-12. The clubs traded touchdowns before Willow Glen finally scored the game winner. Hare pulled in five passes for 129 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Fernandez led the Rams with seven receptions for 87 yards, six of his catches coming in the second half. Macchi tossed to Holt three times for 26 yards. He hit Dave Estrella twice and Mike Strangis and Ruben Figueroa with a pass each. Fernandez, Hare and Richard Torres each intercepted passes for the Rams and Betancourt and Figueroa each recovered fumbles. The coach also praised the work of noseguard Brian Hyland. "He kind of sparked the team defensively," Parker said of Hyland. "He got us all fired up. His contribution on defense was that he was the big emotional leader." The Rams will take their 2-0 record to Los Gatos on Sept. 26 to face Saratoga in a 7:30 p.m. game. "They may be a little bigger and a little quicker [than Monta Vista], but they run the same stuff," Parker said of the Falcons. "They want to run the ball." "They're pretty good," he added. "I'm really impressed with their defense." Frosh-soph falls The Willow Glen frosh-soph lost 42-29 to Monta Vista last Saturday in a real barnburner. The lead changed hands throughout the first half before the Matadors started to pull away in the second half. But the Rams wouldn't give up. "They showed tons of heart," Willow Glen coach Joe Berg said. "They had no quit." The Rams had taken the early lead on a 38-yard field goal by Scott Wahlberg. The Matadors came back with a couple of touchdowns, but Bobby Hobbs hit Matt Durkin for 65 yards and a touchdown to make it 14-9 at the half. Willow Glen moved speedy running back Gabe Candelaria out to a wide receiver spot to start the second half, and Hobbs hit him in strike for a 93-yard touchdown that gave the Rams a 15-14 lead. But Monta Vista scored three straight touchdowns to take a commanding lead. Still, the Rams wouldn't give up. Hobbs ended up throwing another TD pass to Candelaria, and he hit Nick Rohwer for one more touchdown. Hobbs threw for 301 yards in the game, and Candelaria caught passes for 180 yards. The Rams, now 1-1, will visit Saratoga at Los Gatos for a 5:15 p.m. game on Saturday. [ Back to Contents Page | Willow Glen Resident Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Willow Glen Resident, September 23, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.