Heimer stars for Wildcats

By Dick Sparrer

Kenny Heimer just got tired of it.

He got tired of the Los Gatos frosh-soph team struggling to win a nonleague football game. He got tired of the upstart Mountain View Spartans thinking that they could upset the Wildcats. And he got tired of the Cats letting the Spartans think that they could.

So the sophomore noseguard took things into his own hands.

Once Gatos reclaimed a 21-20 lead late in the game, Heimer took it upon himself to stop the Spartans cold. In the last eight Mountain View plays, Heimer came through with five tackles--four of the them in the Spartans backfield.

"He just took over the ball game," said Gatos head coach Scott Downs of Heimer.

Not long after Brian Miguel ran in for a two-point conversion to give the Cats a 21-20 lead, Heimer stepped up.

He dropped a Mountain View back for a 5-yard loss, then sacked the quarterback. Two incomplete passes later, the Cats had the football.

But Heimer wasn't finished yet. The Spartans got the ball back one last time, but two sacks by Heimer sealed the Los Gatos victory.

"He only had seven tackles in the game--they were double-teaming him most of the night," said Downs. "But he had five of the seven in the last two minutes."

The Cats were operating at a disadvantage with talented sophomore tailback Charlie Clark out with a concussion and starting fullback Scott Cohn out with a broken foot.

But Chris Willard came through with 90 yards on 20 carries, and Miguel added 26 yards on seven tries. And both had important scores for the Cats.

Gatos was down 20-13 after Mountain View scooped up a fumble and raced 43 yards for a touchdown with just over six minutes left.

But sophomore quarterback Steve Sweeny took control of the game. He scrambled for eight yards and a first down on broken play, then after Willard broke a big run 36 yards to the Mountain View 25, Sweeny tossed 25 yards to Willard for the touchdown with just over four minutes remaining.

The Cats were still down 20-19, but Miguel gave Gatos the lead when he blasted over from the 3 for the two-point conversion.

That's when Heimer went to work to almost single-handedly shut down the Spartans.

Heimer led the Gatos defense with his seven tackles, including four sacks, and Brandon Brigham was in on six tackles. Matt Cooke had five tackles and a pass interception, and Chris McMorrow was in on five stops.

James Furlo had a couple of sacks among his four tackles, and Stuart Gordon and Eric Brown were also in on QB sacks. Andy Betzina came through with three tackles and Matt Newell recovered a fumble.

Sweeny completed seven of 12 passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Willard hauled in three passes for 35 yards, Gordon caught two for 27, Nick Russell grabbed one for 20, and Derek Tam snagged one for four.

Cooke gave the Cats the early lead when he returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown, and Tam kicked the extra point.

The Spartans answered with a TD, but Heimer blocked the attempted extra point kick, and the Cats were clinging to a 7-6 lead.

Cooke's interception just before the half set up a 12-yard touchdown pass from Sweeny to Gordon.

Mountain View scored in the third and fourth to take the 20-13 lead, but Gatos scored late to win it.

"We dodged a bullet," admitted Downs. "They're not bad, and they played us tough."

The young Cats, now 8-1 for the year and 4-1 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, will close out their season at home on Nov. 12, 5:15 p.m., against Palo Alto.

Photo: Sunrise Cleanup

For parents, youth soccer isn't just a game

Photo: Day of the Dead

Photo: Woodhaven West concert

Picture From the Past

Sports Briefs

Wildcats win cross country championships

Los Gatos football team defeats Palo Alto

Wildcats earn field hockey division championship

Kenny Heimer leads frosh-soph to win