Gatos frosh-sophers open with three straight wins
By Dick Sparrer
Plenty of points scored and not many allowed has been the story of the season for the Los Gatos football team.
But not just the varsity. The frosh-soph club has followed the same pattern in the first three weeks of the 2000 campaign.
The frosh-sophers have opened the year with three straight wins, beating Leland 21-6, Leigh 28-0 and Santa Clara 27-6 (results of the Palo Alto game were not available at the time this story was written). And defense has been the key to success for the young Wildcats.
"As expected, our defense has been overwhelming," said first-year head coach Dale Gustafson. "In fact, our first-team defense has yet to give up a score."
"We take a very aggressive approach to the game, and it's paid off so far," added the coach. "I've been especially proud of the development of our defensive ends, Drew Hoffman and Andrew O'Gorman. They're making it awfully tough on our opponents."
But, then, the offense hasn't made things any easier for Gatos foes, scoring 11 touchdowns in three games.
"Offensively, we have a line that is doing a great job," said Gustafson, praising the work of Logan Graf, Bryce Murray, Carter Wallace, Matt Rose and Matt Losch. "They're opening huge holes and protecting [quarterback Alex Rollins] very well."
"We don't have a high speed, break-away back," he added, "but we run very tough, wearing down opponents. Teams will continue to try to stop our runs, so we are going to need to rely on our pass offense a little more."
Los Gatos didn't need much of a passing attack against Santa Clara, thanks to the running of Brian Miguel, Dennis Freeman and Patrick Michaelson.
Freeman led the rushing attack with 78 yards, and Miguel ran for three touchdowns, including a 90-yard kick off return. Miguel finished with 52 yards rushing and Michaelson supported with 51.
Linebacker Eric Brown starred defensively in the win, leading the Wildcats with 11 tackles.
The Cats went to the air a little more in the win over Leigh. Rollins threw for 98 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Fee.
Freeman starred on both sides of the ball. As a fullback he led the ground attack with 87 yards and a touchdown, and as a linebacker he led the squad in tackles. Michaelson toted the ball for 78 yards.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
