The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Lea Tauriello

Splish Splash: Willow Glen's Mike Von Rueden cools off with a little water break during last Saturday's 28-0 victory over San Jose. The Rams are now 3-0 as they head into league play.

Rams start playing for real

Willow Glen is 3-0 heading into league

By Dick Sparrer

It's time for the Willow Glen Rams to start playing for real.

Not that there has been anything artificial about the three games the Rams have already played. It's just that this week marks the opening of the season in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.

The Rams open the league season at home on Oct. 3, 3:30 p.m., against Mt. Pleasant. Willow Glen takes a 3-0 preseason record into the game, but it could be the toughest test of the year for the Rams.

"We've got out hands full," said Willow Glen boss Bob Parker, whose club is coming off of a 28-0 win over San Jose last week. "Mt. Pleasant looks very good. They blew out Lick and Del Mar."

The Cardinals sandwiched wins over Lick (36-12) and Del Mar (26-7) around a loss to Leigh (47-6). Brandon Lattimore leads the offensive attack for Mt. Pleasant.

"He's a tough guy to bring down," said Parker of Lattimore. "And their quarterback is very athletic. We're going to have to contain him and stop Lattimore."

Willow Glen had little trouble stopping San Jose last Saturday. DeWitt Willis carried 16 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Rams past the Bulldogs.

Willis capped a drive on Willow Glen's first possession with a one-yard blast for a TD.

Sophomore quarterback David Macchi made it 14-0 with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Nick Nelson and a pass to Cory Hare for the two-point conversion.

Willis and Nelson scored on short runs in the second half, and Nich Holt kicked a couple of extra points to make it 28-0.

Miguel Campos picked up 46 yards on just three carries, and Nelson added 34 yards and five tries.

Macchi ended the day hitting on 13 of 21 passes for 134 yards, going five times to John Fernandez for 59 yards.

"He played well," Parker said of his sophomore quarterback. "He's getting more confidence every game."

The coach praised the work of David Dudley, Mike Von Reuden, Doug Murr and Eric Brugioni in the offensive line.

Defensively, Holt picked off a pass and Brian Hyland recovered a pair of fumbles.

"We just played good team defense," said Parker. "We had three or four guys in on every tackle."

Willow Glen enters the league season as one of three unbeaten teams in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL. Piedmont Hills is also 3-0, and Prospect is 2-0-1 after battling Pioneer to a 21-21 last Friday.

Mustangs tie Panthers

"We played all right," Prospect coach Dave Johnson said after the tie. "Pioneer is a pretty good football team."

The Mustangs had broken a 14-14 tie when Bryan Collins blasted over from the four for a TD with 2:12 left in the half and Brian Sturges added his third extra point. A 27-yard run by Ryan Miksch had set up the score.

But Prospect's Muarez answered right back with a 92-yard kick-off return for a touchdown.

The clubs went in at intermission tied 21-21, then battled through a scoreless second half before settling for the tie.

Pioneer finished the night with 401 yards of total offense, including 295 on the ground. Miksch led the Mustangs with 132 yards on 16 carries, and Leigh Mayer carried 17 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Collins added 44 yards on 14 tries.

Junior quarterback Greg Haskell was a big part of the Pioneer offfense, completing six of nine passes for 106 yards. Mayer snagged three passes for 43 yards, and Casey Olsen, Nick Ruocchio and Herbert Jackson grabbed one each.

Prospect QB Justin Williams had 10 of his 12 pass completions by halftime, including TD tosses of 10 and 68 yards to Matt Heling. The quarterback had just two completions in the second half and was sacked twice--once by Paul Purdy, and the second time by sophomore tackle Kevin Sparrer. Sparrer also batted down a pair of Williams passes in the final period. Purdy had blocked a Prospect field goal attempt in the first half.

Grant Murdock led all Pioneer tacklers with eight stops, and Rob Basuino was in on seven. Kevin Gelardi, Ryan Brown, Jackson, Ryan Brown and Ryan Sexauer were other tackling leaders, and Olsen and Mayer came through with big plays in the Pioneer secondary.

Young Rams win

Kyran Warren ran for a couple of touchdowns, and Mike Strangis ran for a TD and two two-point conversions in Willow Glen's 38-22 junior varsity win over San Jose.

Juan Mendez scooted in from the five for a touchdown, and quarterback Will Rideau threw a 38-yard TD toss to David Estrella. Rideau also tossed to Ray Farias for a two-pointer, and Ray Jackman kicked a pair of extra points.

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