Lick improved to 4-2 for the league and to 2-0 in league play. Willow Glen is also 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the division.

The Rams trailed 26-14 at halftime but came out with a renewed defensive effort and shut down the Comets offense. Willow Glen limited Lick to a 78 yards rushing (47 on one play) and only one completed pass for two yards.

The Rams got a strong defensive effort from defensive linemen Adrian Betancourt and Nate Torres. They were constantly stuffing the Comets running game in the second half. Anything that got past the line of scrimmage was quickly taken care of by linebackers Nick Barreto, Justin Ble, and Matthew Arevalo. The Rams defensive backfield didn't give the Comets receivers much room to work either.

The Rams moved the ball well in the third quarter but had two potential scoring drives stalled by interceptions, both deep in Lick territory with one at the 14-yard line and the other at the 7-yard line. This left the Rams needing two touchdowns to win as the fourth quarter began.

Willow Glen got a big break early in the quarter when Lick had a bad snap on an attempted punt and the kick was partially blocked by Tom Lancaster. The Rams took over at their own 39-yard line, then put together a drive utilizing a mixture of running by Lalo Garces and passing by Chris Hobbs. Garces took it the final two yards on a run up the middle for a touchdown with 4:40 left in the game. This put Willow Glen within striking distance, trailing just 26-21.

Garces carried the ball 24 times for 128 yards on the day. Hobbs completed 11 of 25 for 103 yards and three interceptions. He spread his throws among several Rams including Alex Green (five catches for 35 yards), Ble (two for 28 yards), Jon Gibilisco (two for 17 yards) and Garces (one for 22 yards).

The Willow Glen defense stiffened once again and forced the Comets to go three and out. The punt was a short one and the Rams had great field position at the Comets 45-yard line with 3:06 on the game clock.

Hobbs hit Ble on the first play for a 19-yard gain and then four plays later, while facing a fourth down and six, Hobbs hit Ble again for nine yards and a first down at the Comets 13-yard line with 1:20 on the clock.

On third down, Hobbs rolled to his right and saw Marcus Hill in the corner of the endzone and fired a bullet right at him. The Lick defender made a last second dive and just barely got to the ball before it got to Hill and made the interception falling into the endzone. With just 40 remaining, the Rams hopes were dashed.

Willow Glen scored on two Gibilisco field goals in the first quarter. The first was 23 yards to make the score 3-0 and the second was 27 yards cutting the Lick lead to 7-6. The second one was set up when the Comets had a snap for a punt go over the head of their punter and Gibilisco recovered for the Rams at the 20-yard line.

A bright spot for the Rams came in the second quarter when Green fielded a James Lick punt and took it 52 yards for a touchdown. The Rams set up a nice return wall of blocks and Green did some excellent broken field running to give the Rams a 14-7 lead.

The Comets began to pull out a few trick plays and caught the Rams by surprise on a couple, resulting in two additional touchdowns and a 26-14 Lick lead at the half. This set the stage for the Rams strong second-half performance and outstanding comeback that just wasn't quite enough in the end.

The Rams have a week off from league play but face a tough non-league challenge as they play host to crosstown rival Leland on Oct. 24, 3:30 p.m.

Field hockey

It was a tough week for the Willow Glen girls field hockey team. The Rams opened the week by dropping a tight 3-2 decision to Saratoga, then were blanked 2-0 by St. Ignatius.

Senior forwards Gina Brugioni and Marina Mendez each scored second-half goals for the Rams to match two second-half goals by Saratoga. But the Falcons had scored in the first half and that single goal turned out to be the difference in the game.

Willow Glen slipped to 3-6 for the year with the 2-0 loss to SI two days later. The Wildcats scored a goal in each half on the road to the win.

Cross country

Willow Glen senior Gilbert Rosales had a big day at the Oct. 11 Serra Invitational on the 2.95-mile course at Crystal Springs in Belmont. Rosales finished 14th in the boys championship division in 16:28. Teammate Robert Ramos was 34th with Jose Cervantes 38th and freshman Sean Robinson 52nd.

Willow Glen finished strong in the boys freshman race at Serra. Evan Bishop was 18th in 18:38, with Sergio Calixto 20th, Saul Espinosa 25th and Brian Chunn 32nd.