The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Hanging in There: Willow Glen quarterback David Macchi tries to get rid of the football despite a tough rush by Monta Vista. The Rams ended up pulling out a thrilling 14-7 win over the Matadors in the nonleague game last Saturday.

Big win for Rams over Mats

Campos returns punt for key TD

By Dick Sparrer

The coaches in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League like to say, "There's no week off once we get into our league season."

What they mean, of course, is that they have a mighty tough league.

And they do--but not too tough for the Willow Glen Rams.

At least one De Anza Division wasn't. The Rams pulled out an exciting 14-7 win over Monta Vista last Saturday to push their season record to 2-0.

"That was a good test for us," said a happy Willow Glen head coach, Bob Parker, after the win. "Our defense really stepped it up a notch."

That's almost something of an understatement. The Matadors ran a third more offensive plays than the Rams, but the Willow Glen defense did not allow a touchdown in the nonleague game.

Monta Vista's only touchdown came in the second period when the Mats picked off a Willow Glen pass and took it in for the score. Otherwise, the Rams gave up little to the Matadors.

"Our whole defense played well," said Parker. "We gave 'em absolutely nothing."

Monta Vista wasn't giving up much, either. But Willow Glen managed to score twice to claim the victory.

DeWitt Willis raced 30 yards for a second-period TD, but the conversion failed and the Rams trailed 7-6 at halftime.

But Miguel Campos took care of getting the Rams the lead early in the third quarter.

The senior speedster hauled in a Monta Vista punt at his own 28 and raced 72 yards for the touchdown that would prove the game winner.

Campos picked up a couple of key blocks on the touchdown run, and both came from back Shaun Thompson.

"Shaun blocked a guy [where Campos caught the punt], then ran 70 yards down the field to block two more guys," said Parker. "It was a real extra effort."

Sophomore quarterback David Macchi tossed to Cory Hare for the two-point conversion, and the Rams had the 14-7 lead that would stand up for the victory.

Parker praised the work of Russ Canales, Richy Clarke, Ricardo Mendez, Thompson, Hare and Dave Dudley defensively.

"I really have a lot of confidence right now in our defense," he said.

The Rams, who opened with a win over Santa Clara, will try to make it three straight in the pre-season when they visit San Jose on Sept. 27, 1:30 p.m. The Bulldogs are 0-2 after losing to Reno to open the season, then falling 24-13 to Santa Clara last week. Willow Glen had beaten Santa Clara 28-6 in the first week of the season.

Girls' field hockey

The Willow Glen girls' field hockey team backed up a championship showing in its own jamboree with a convincing 5-2 win over Leigh in nonleague play last week.

Ram superstar Erin Booth drilled home three goals, and Kellie Arnone added two to lead Willow Glen to the win over the Longhorns. Booth, Arnone, Meghan Compton, Gina Bettencourt and Nicki Garcia all came through with assists for the winners.

The Rams, now 2-0 in the regular season, opened up a 3-1 lead in the first half, then outscored the Longhorns 2-1 in the second half to secure the victory.

The Rams had finished first the weekend before in the annual Willow Glen Field Hockey Jamboree, an event that featured more than 30 schools in hockey competition.

Willow Glen edged Davis 1-0 in the jamboree title game.

Girls' tennis

The Presentation girls' tennis team is off to a perfect start in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the BVAL this fall.

The Panthers blanked both Mitty and Santa Teresa by matching 7-0 scores last week to improve to 3-0 in the division and to 4-0 for the year. Joanne Chung, Stephanie Leupp and Nicole Ackerman were winners at the top three singles spots in each of the Presentation victories.

Willow Glen, meanwhile, lost 6-1 to Lincoln and 5-2 to Westmont to get off to an 0-4 start in the West Valley Division of the BVAL.

Girls' water polo

Cassie Bienemann poured in eight goals to lead the Presentation girls' water polo team to a lopsided 15-7 win over Los Gatos last week in nonleague action. The Panthers improved to 4-2 for the year with the win.

Denise Allen tossed in three goals for Presentation, and Tarryn Knight added two. Jamie Hinderliter and Kristin Livak scored a goal apiece for the winners.

Presentation had opened the week with a tight 7-6 win over St. Francis in another nonleague test.

Bienemann flipped in three goals, and Lisa Knott tossed in two to lead the Panthers.

Panthers win

The Presentation girls' volleyball team pushed its season record over the .500 mark with a solid 15-0, 17-15, 15-5, 15-9 win over Leigh in nonleague action last week. The Panthers are now 6-5 in the 1997 season.

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