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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Feeling Puckish: Willow Glen's Kellie Arnone (4) battles for the ball in field hockey action against Los Gatos. The Rams ended up dropping a tough 2-1 decision to the Wildcats.
Rams roll over 76ers
Girls tennis team is still unbeaten
By Dick Sparrer
Senior quarterback David Macchi had Willow Glen running well in the first two weeks of the 1999 football season.
The Rams reached the end zone three times each in early season wins over Lincoln and Silver Creek. But then the Rams ran head first into powerful Oak Grove.
Willow Glen was blanked 63-0 by the Eagles, then lost a 21-7 heartbreaker to Prospect in the first game of the year in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League.
Macchi and his teammates had to be concerned after scoring just one touchdown in two games. But they are concerned no longer.
The Rams lit up Independence for five touchdowns and a field goal last Friday afternoon on the road to a 37-16 victory over the 76ers.
"We finally got our offense clicking," said Willow Glen coach Sonny Flores. And a big reason for that was the play of Macchi.
The senior QB hooked up on 11 of 23 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Rams to the easy victory.
"He played extremely well," said Flores of Macchi. "He's a real big game player for us."
But Macchi wasn't in it alone. Big senior running back Leon Thomas rambled for 159 yards on 16 carries to lead the Willow Glen ground attack as the Rams ran up nearly 500 yards of total offense.
Kyran Warriors supported Thomas' effort on the ground with 56 yards on eight carries.
Macchi hooked up with Will Rideau on a 65-yard touchdown pass in the first period, and Thomas ran 30 yards for a score. Warren pulled in a pass from Macchi for the two-point conversion, and the Rams were up 14-0 in the first.
Independence scored before the end of the period, but Nick Rohwer answered the TD with a 45-yard kickoff return to set up a 25-yard touchdown pass from Macchi to David Estrella early in the second quarter.
Scott Wallberg drilled a 31-yard field goal just before the half to give the Rams a 23-6 lead at the break, but they weren't finished yet.
Macchi tossed 13 yards to Gabe Candelaria for a TD in the third quarter, and Wallberg kicked the extra point.
Warren blasted over from the 1 for Willow Glen's final score, and Wallberg kicked another point.
Rideau, Estrella, Candelaria, Shane Lamar, Thomas and Warren each caught passes for Macchi in the win, and Erik Lupercio, Steve Klein, Seth Andrews, Ben D'Antonio and Fernando Betancourt all played well in the offensive line.
"Up front we played very well," said Flores.
The coach was also pleased with his club's defensive showing.
"It was a pretty solid defensive effort overall," he said, singling out Rohwer for his performance.
The Rams will try to make it two straight when they host Del Mar on Oct. 15, 3:30 p.m., in a key division game.
"This is a huge game for us," said Flores. "They definitely have a good ballclub."
Hockey team ties
The Willow Glen girls field hockey team battled Mitty to a 1-1 in Mt. Hamilton Division play last week. The tie left the Rams 0-1-2 in league play and 4-1-3 for the year.
Stacey Santomauro knocked in a first-half goal off a Janie Demkowski assist to give the Rams a 1-0 lead at intermission, but the Monarchs tied it with a goal in the second half.
The Rams had lost a tough 2-1 decision to Los Gatos to open the week. Santomauro scored off a Lindsey Rovai assist in the first half, but the Cats scored twice before the break and held on for the 2-1 win.
Willow Glen will be on the road for a pair of matches this week, visiting Prospect on Oct. 12, 3 p.m., and Saratoga on Oct. 14, 3:15 p.m.
Giambruno leads Rams
Sophomore Kelsey Giambruno won three times in singles play last week to lead the unbeaten Rams to three more victories.
Willow Glen edged Pioneer 4-3, then whipped Oak Grove 6-1 and Independence 5-2.
Giambruno posted a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles to help get Willow Glen on the road to the win over the Mustangs. She was the only singles winner for WG, but the Rams swept in doubles play with Tram Nguyen and Neda Dowlatshahi winning 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1, Aubrey Schatz and Bianca Gomez winning 7-6, 6-4 at No. 2 and Stephanie Mansfield and Chen Huyhn winning 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3.
Giambruno won 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 at No. 4 singles, and the doubles teams of Nguyen-Dowlatshahi and Mansfield-Huyhn won 7-5, 7-5 and 6-1, 6-0 respectively to lead the Rams past Oak Grove 6-1.
Cheryl Mah posted a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 win at No. 1 singles, Cindy Ngo won 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) at No. 2 and Reyna Hernandez-Cervantes won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.
Willow Glen wrapped up the week with an easy 5-2 win over Independence. Hernandez-Cervantes won 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3 singles and Giambruno won 7-5, 6-0 at No. 4.
The Rams swept again in doubles action. Nguyen-Dowlatshahi won 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1, Schatz-Gomez won 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 and Mansfield-Huyhn won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3.
The Rams are now 15-0 for the year and 11-0 in the Santa Teresa Division of the BVAL.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
