Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Garces scores three TDs in Rams 42-0 win

By Mike Barnhart

For the third time this season, Willow Glen's high-octane offense has exploded for at least 40 points during a game in which the Rams' stingy defense has pitched a shutout. The three-peat occurred last Saturday afternoon with a 42-0 pasting of Yerba Buena.

Marcos Garces ran for all three first-half touchdowns, giving the Rams a 22-0 lead at intermission. The powerful senior halfback continued to run hard in the third quarter and finished with 226 rushing yards on 17 carries.

With the win, coupled with Overfelt's surprisingly easy 49-6 beating of San Jose the night before, the stage is set for an early showdown that likely will go a long way in deciding the championship of Blossom Valley Athletic League's West Valley Division. Willow Glen and Overfelt will collide on the Rams' turf on Oct. 14, 1:30 p.m.

The teams will enter with identical records, 2-0 in West Valley play and 4-1 overall. The Rams have outscored opponents 158-29 while the Royals have topped their foes 161-40. Depending what happens the day before in a game between Prospect (2-0) and Andrew Hill (1-1), Saturday's winner could finish the day alone in first.

Willow Glen never looked back against Yerba Buena. By the end of the third period the score was 36-0, thanks in part to an 18-yard scoring romp by senior fullback Anthony Doan, four conversion kicks by junior Richard Martinez and a two-point PAT by quarterback Juan Baron.

Senior defensive back Matt Reiton capped the scoring when he returned an interception 23 yards for a touchdown. The defense was paced by senior linebacker Mike Roseland (12 tackles) and junior end Charlie Findeisen (seven).

Garces' big game increased his five-game rushing yardage total to 764 yards, just 35 more than Overfelt speedster Larry Taylor.

Boys water polo

Geoffrey Dubridge and Sam Brandt both totaled seven goals, leading first-place Willow Glen to a pair of victories in the BVAL's Santa Teresa Division. The Rams raised their league record to 5-0 by topping Silver Creek 15-5, two days after a 16-6 win over Independence.

The Rams got off to fast starts in both games. They jumped out to a 7-0 halftime lead against Silver Creek and built an 8-2 margin by intermission against Independence.

Brandt scored four goals and Dubridge three against Silver Creek. Charlie Kane and London scored two, and Reese Rotsaert, Josh Dombro, Dustin Shean and Kinsworth each had one. Dubridge and Rotsaert led the way against the 76ers, tallying four goals each. Brandt followed with three, Kane two and Chris McCarthy, Dombro and Shean one.

Girls tennis

Stephanie Tran rallied from a 4-6 loss in the first set of the No. 1 singles match and captured a three-set win at Yerba Buena on Oct. 3. Tran rolled in the final two sets, 6-2, 6-1, leading the Rams to a 5-2 triumph over the Warriors.

In doubles play, Kristen Davis and Samantha Tsukiji combined to claim the feature match for Willow Glen. The pair won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.

Cross country

Five days after running two-three out of 286 runners to lead Willow Glen's boys to second place at the prestigious Stanford Invitational, senior Marcos Corona and junior Mohamed Abdalla ran one-two at Montgomery Hill Park as the Rams remained unbeaten in BVAL Mt. Hamilton team competition.

Corona covered the 3.1-mile Stanford course in 15:33, four seconds behind the individual champion and four ahead of teammate Abdalla. Out of 44 schools in the Sept. 30 meet, the Rams finished behind only Los Gatos in team competition. Junior Eyoel Galato (16:59) and senior Samson Galato (17:12) placed in the top 60 at Stanford.

Willow Glen and Santa Teresa left Montgomery Hill on Oct. 5 sharing first place with dual meet records of 6-0. The Rams and Saints will square off in the final regular-season league meet on Oct. 19.