Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Andrew Hill battles from behind, tops Rams 14-10

By Kevin Sparrer

Marcus Findeisen, Charlie Findeisen and Nathan Kadlecek did their best to score points, but unfortunately it wasn't enough for the Rams as the Willow Glen football team dropped a 14-10 heartbreaker to Andrew Hill on Oct. 6.

The Rams lost for the second time in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, this time after leading 10-0 at the end of the first half with M. Findeisen connecting on a touchdown pass to C. Findeisen and Kadlecek kicking a 48-yard field goal.

"We knew Andrew Hill was a physical team," said Willow Glen head coach Ron Capurso. "We felt we needed to match their physicality."

Willow Glen started the game well, stopping a strong Hill offense when Mike Gibilisco picked off a pass to end a Falcon drive.

The ball changed hands a few more times before M. Findeisen hit C. Findeisen on a 19-yard pass, completing a seven-play, 78-yard drive. After Kadlecek kicked the extra point, Willow Glen had a 7-0 lead with 3:03 left in the first half. M. Findeisen also connected with Ricky Huynh on a 32-yard pass to help keep the drive moving.

The second successful drive for the Rams came only a few seconds later, when Willow Glen held the Falcons on three straight plays and forced them to punt.

The Rams took over on their own 35-yard line and drove to midfield on three plays. Then M. Findeisen connected with Gibilisco for a three-yard gain to cross the 50 before Kurtis Smith ran 17 yards to the Falcon 28-yard line. M. Findeisen attempted three passes that all fell incomplete before Kadlecek booted a 48-yard field goal with leg to spare, bringing the score to 10-0 with only seconds left in the half.

The second half started out right when Kadlecek knocked the kickoff into the end zone for a touchback and then Gibilisco made his second interception of the day. Willow Glen was unable to score, but the Rams were able to hold the Falcons scoreless for the remainder of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, though, things fell apart for the Rams, who allowed the Falcons to score twice in three minutes. They but halted two attempts at two-point conversions, but still trailed 12-10.

Willow Glen struggled to get its offense together and was forced to punt from its own 8-yard line. But the snap went over the kicker's head and out of the back of the end zone for a safety to bring the score to 14-10.

Willow Glen had one last drive attempt with 1:24 left in the game and was able to take the ball from its 16 to midfield, but the clock ran out before the Rams could get the ball into the end zone.

"Andrew Hill took care of their business," said Capurso. "But we're getting better. With only 23 men on the roster, we have a lot of guys going both ways. Being that low on numbers we have to be special. We aren't quite there yet, but we're on our way."

M. Findeisen completed 5 of 9 passes for 63 yards in the loss, and Daniel Castillo also connected on 7 of 11 passes for 81 yards.

Gibilisco carried nine times for 46 yards and caught three passes for 49 yards.

Huynh caught three passes for 51 yards, while C. Findeisen caught five for 40 yards.

Bobby Lopez ran the ball four times for 22 yards and caught a pass for 14.

Robert Morrey led the defense with six tackles, including two sacks for a combined loss of 16 yards.

Jon Meza helped the defense with six tackles, while Lopez and Schuyler Ross each had five. Robert Allen also had five, including a sack for a three-yard loss.

Willow Glen hopes to better its 0-2 league record and 1-3 mark overall when the Rams go to Yerba Buena to battle the Aztec Warriors on Oct. 12 for a 7:30 p.m. game. Yerba Buena is 1-1 in league and 4-1 overall.