The senior linemen were whooping it up with other Firebirds following their 7-6 victory over visiting Willow on Sept. 11.

"We had never beaten Willow Glen," Bragas said. "Three years in a row, two years of frosh-soph and last year on varsity, we lost. Not this year though—we wanted it more tonight."

"They didn't beat us this year!" announced Frazier, a 6-foot-3, 240-pounder, who saved his best two defensive plays for the last minute, when Willow Glen quarterback Tyler Smith was desperately trying to rally his team.

And the Firebirds barely edged the Rams Saturday night, as both team's defenses shined bright.

"We couldn't ask any more from our defense tonight," praised Willow Glen coach Andy Penwarden. "The big goalline stand plus some fourth down stands."

Senior linebackers Matt Arevalo and Eugene Martinez were the top tacklers for the Rams. Martinez was in on nine tackles and Arevalo six, including a quarterback sack. Junior Jason Gibilisco had five and Jose Ramirez had four.

The only dent the Rams allowed Fremont to make in the scoreboard was in the first quarter, a three-yard touchdown run by junior Nathan Cathcart. After the PAT kick was good, the Firebirds led 7-0 with 2:06 left in the period.

Willow Glen responded immediately. Ramirez fielded the ensuing kick-off, catching the ball even though teammate Angel Posada called for it. Ramirez took it at the 13-yard line near the left hash mark, ran wide to the right, then cut up the sideline right in front of the Rams' bench. A block by Gibilisco helped Ramirez outrace the Firebirds' kick coverage for an 87-yard touchdown.

Smith, who handled Willow Glen's punting chores in addition to the quarterback duties, lined up to attempt a game-tying kick. He never had a chance, as the center snap was fumbled and Cathcart crashed in from the right side to bury the holder, who had tried to get up and run with the ball.

After that, both team's offenses made some noise, but none were loud enough to ring up more points on the scoreboard. Fremont's Kevin Jullian returned a fourth-quarter punt 60 yards for an apparent score, but an illegal block nullified it.

Both teams intercepted passes into the end zone. Ram Nick Abbatelli ended an eight-play Fremont march in the first quarter when he snagged a pass in the back of the end zone.

Fremont recovered two Willow Glen fumbles and Gibilisco made a nice strip of the ball for Willow Glen.

After Abbatelli made his second interception of the game, outjumping a Fremont receiver at the Rams' 15 early in the second quarter, the Firebirds never threw another pass. Fremont, which completed 2 of 4 passes for nine yards, ran the ball 47 times for 180 yards. Willow Glen totaled 161 yards of offense, including 142 on the ground.

Fremont players still remember last year's opener, a 19-12 loss at Willow Glen.

But gone was Willow Glen's "big play" offense of 2003, with quarterback Chris Hobbs and playmakers like Justin Ble and Alex Green.

Instead, Penwarden and his staff installed a new offense that includes a veer-option directed by Smith and featuring running backs Martinez, Robert Oxsen and Ramirez.

Martinez, who suffered what some appeared to be a serious knee injury during practice a week before, made a great recovery and played a fine game on both sides of the ball. In addition to being the top tackler, he was the game's top rusher with 70 yards on just nine carries.

Showing some slick ball-handling skills, Tyler slipped the ball to Martinez for several quick-hitting plays behind left guard and tackle. Martinez had six runs that went for nine or more yards. Jose Ramirez ran four times for 30 yards, including a long-gainer of 26 yards.

Eric Zetterquist and Gerardo Cisneros both opened holes at tackle, while Jairo Ramirez and Mike Roseland worked the guard spot. Ramirez, who left the game because of a possible concussion, didn't play in the second half.

Smith, who rushed some of his passes because of Fremont's pressure, completed three of his passes for 42 yards. The longest pass play for either team was Smith's 28-yard heave to Marques Hill up the left sideline in the second quarter, a play that started the Rams' longest drive and produced the offense's best chance to score.

After Gibilisco turned a tackle of Firebird runner Juan Arce into a stripped ball and recovery at his team's 48, the Rams moved the ball to Fremont's 9. The long pass play and a roughing-the-passer penalty were the key plays, before Arce intercepted a second-and-one pass in the end zone for Fremont.

Fremont quarterback Cookie Mills ran around right end for the Firebirds' longest play from scrimmage. The 36-yard scamper to the Willow Glen 14 kept alive a drive that chewed up seven minutes of the third quarter. It began on Fremont's 34 and ended with Willow Glen's fantastic stand at the 1.

After Cathcart ran a first-and-goal play three yards to the 1, he was stopped short of the goal on second down by a crush of Rams led by Zetterquist and Arevalo. Cathcart was injured on that play and was helped off of the field.

After a lengthy injury timeout, the Rams stopped fullback Joe Maes twice into the middle of the line. Zetterquist nailed Maes on third down. Arevalo, Martinez and Corey LaHerran teamed up for the fourth-down stop. It was the second of three fourth-down denials that the Rams defense would make.

Willow Glen returns to action at 3:15 p.m. on Sept. 17, hosting Monta Vista at Lincoln.

"They're a tough team," Penwarden said of the Matadors, who tied Yerba Buena 14-14 in their opener last week. "They're a small team in numbers, like us, and play several people both ways."