 |
|
|
|
|
Tough day for Matadors at Fremont
Homestead Mustangs win, Pioneers fall
By Dick Sparrer
Delainy Durgin threw for a touchdown and ran for another in Fremont's lopsided 40-7 victory over Monta Vista last Saturday afternoon.
But the play of the day for the Fremont quarterback came when the Firebirds didn't even have the football--at least, not when the play started.
It came on the first play of the second quarter, with the Firebirds already up 21-0 against the Matadors. And it came at the expense of Durgin's counterpart, Monta Vista quarterback Jon Garfield.
Durgin came charging in off Fremont's right corner to blindside Garfield for what initially appeared to be just a very impressive sack. But Durgin hit Garfield so hard he forced a fumble. And who was there to recover the loose ball? Well, it was Durgin.
"I saw the fullback block down and I came off the edge," Durgin said after the game. "I saw the quarterback's back, and I hit him. Then I rolled over, and the ball was right there."
Durgin recovered the fumble to start the Firebirds on their way to their fourth touchdown in as many possessions, and Fremont was well on its way to the impressive victory.
The win helped the 'Birds improve to 3-1 in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and kept their title hopes alive, at least for a few hours.
When Mountain View (3-0) crushed Cupertino (3-1) 27-3 Saturday night, Fremont's shot at the division crown was dealt a severe blow. The Firebirds needed the Pioneers to knock off the Spartans to give Fremont a shot at forcing a three-way tie for the division title.
The Firebirds lost to Mountain View earlier in the year and will play Cupertino in the final game of the league season. Now Fremont has to hope for Lynbrook (0-3), Homestead (2-2) or Monta Vista (1-2) to upset the Spartans in the final three weeks of the campaign to give the Firebirds an opening for a title tie.
Fremont will take a break from league play this week when the 'Birds visit Wilcox of the De Anza Division on Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m., in a non-league game.
Monta Vista will try to get back on the winning track this week. The Matadors, 2-5 for the year, will return to Fremont to face Homestead on Oct. 26, 6:15 p.m.
Turnovers costly
The Mats will no doubt be looking for a better showing in their second trip to Fremont than they had in their first.
"Turnovers killed them, I think," Durgin said.
That's something of an understatement. Monta Vista lost five fumbles and had two passes intercepted and returned four touchdowns.
Ironically, the game started with a fumble on the opening kick off that was recovered by Drew Rogers of Monta Vista at the Fremont 45.
But just two plays later, Durgin got the Firebirds going when he covered a Monta Vista bobble at the 44. It was the first of six straight turnovers that all led to Fremont touchdowns and a 40-0 lead.
Monta Vista ultimately avoided the shutout with a nice drive in the final period. The Mats went 69 yards on 10 plays, Rogers capping the march with an 8-yard TD run with 3:35 left in the game. Brian Ratkovich kicked the extra point.
A 10-yard run by Jason Martinez, Garfield passes of 12 yards to Daniel Kobylenski and 18 yards to Martinez and a couple of runs by Ryan Katz for nine yards keyed the drive.
Rogers ended up as the offensive and defensive leader for the Matadors. The senior fullback pounded for 34 yards on 10 carries, including the TD run, and as a linebacker he was in on a team-high 10 tackles.
Katz picked up only 21 yards on 11 carries, and Shahid Shaikh added 15 yards on three tries. Garfield hit on just 2 of 8 passes for 30 yards.
Martinez supported Rogers defensively with nine tackles. Alex Marino got in on six stops, Amir Zamanian five, Pat Hamer four and Ryan Gordon, Wilson Liu and Brandon Reinhardt three each.
Jay Kim, Sherman Wang, Manuel Stahl, Kurt Anderson, Ratkovich, Bryan Lee, Dustin Frediani, Ivan Roth and Matt Dahte were others in on tackles for the Mats.
Mustangs win big
Steven Nichols and Brian McGee scored two touchdowns apiece to lead Homestead to a rousing 32-6 win over Lynbrook last Friday.
The clubs were locked in a tight battle through a quarter with each team scoring a touchdown.
The Mustangs scored first when junior quarterback tossed a 63-yard TD toss to Nichols. Brian Maihack kicked the extra point that would give the Mustangs a lead they would never lose.
But Lynbrook came fighting back. Brandon Bencomo scored on an 8-yard touchdown run, but the kick to tie the game missed its mark.
Maihack extended Homestead's lead before the half when he scored on a 6-yard run and kicked the extra point to put the Mustangs up 14-6 at intermission.
McGee took off on a 42-yard TD scamper in the third quarter to up Homestead's lead to 20-6.
The Mustangs put the game away with two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth. McGee went 22 yards for a score and Nichols broke a 59-yard touchdown run to give Homestead the 32-6 victory.
The win evened Homestead's league record at 2-2 and left the Mustangs 3-4 for the year. They'll host Monta Vista on Friday at Fremont.
Lynbrook slipped to 0-3 in league and to 2-5 for the season. The Vikings will head to Mountain View on Friday for a 3:15 p.m. game.
Pioneers fall
Cupertino suffered its first loss of the league season in its biggest game of the year.
The Pioneers and Mountain View matched unblemished league records last Saturday night, but the Spartans managed to pull off a 27-3 victory to take over sole ownership of first place in the El Camino Division.
The Spartans scored first in the game, but Cupertino answered with a 31-yard field goal by Jacob Haberman in the second quarter to cut the lead to 7-3.
Mountain View scored before the half, though, then scored twice in the third period to take command of the game.
The Pioneers will try to get back on the winning track this week when they host Los Altos on Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m. The Eagles are 0-3 in league play and 0-6 for the year.
|
|
|
|
Cupertino, California Since 1947
