Cats open CCS playoffs at home against Panthers
By Dick Sparrer
There's no place like home for the holidays.
Well, that may well be true. But Los Gatos football coach Butch Cattolico is singing a different tune this week--there's no place like home for the Central Coast Section playoffs.
And thanks to an outstanding 10-0 run through the 1999 season, including six wins in the rugged De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, Los Gatos will be opening the CCS Division III playoffs at home this week when the Wildcats host the Prospect Panthers on Nov. 19, 7 p.m., at Helm Field. (Advance tickets are on sale at the school.)
Los Gatos is the top-seeded team in the division with its 10-0 mark. The Panthers, 7-3 for the year, tied for second in the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and enter the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the division.
But Cattolico isn't about to let his Wildcats take the Panthers lightly.
"Hey, they won seven ballgames," said Cattolico. "I told the kids that right now everybody is 0-0. Nobody has a better record than anybody else."
And Cattolico knows that the Panthers can move the football. "They have two real impressive weapons," said the Gatos coach. "[Saladin] Washington is an excellent runner, and [Andrew Heling] is a real good receiver."
Plus, Jordan Williams can throw the football. The senior quarterback has thrown for 1,200 yards and a dozen touchdowns to complement Washington's 1,000 yards rushing.
"We've got to slow down No. 3 [Washington], and we've got to put pressure on their quarterback," said Cattolico. "And that won't be easy, because they're huge up front."
But for a defense that's allowed just over seven points a game in 10 victories, maybe the task doesn't sound all that daunting.
Palo Alto was pretty big up front Friday night, but the Wildcats rolled over the Vikings 27-0.
"The kids played a good ballgame," said Cattolico after the win. "It wasn't our best effort, but we played a really solid first half."
The Cats opened up a 20-0 lead by intermission, then seemed to coast a bit after scoring another touchdown early in the third period to go up 27-0. After that, the Gatos coaches started to clear the bench and rest the starters.
Los Gatos struck first and struck quickly in the Friday game. The Cats took over at their own 36 following a short Paly punt, and Joey Warren scored the first time he touched the football.
"We faked to Justin [Narragon], and then Joey made just a great run," said Cattolico of Warren's effort.
Warren went 64 yards for the touchdown, picking up a key downfield block from 232-pound tackle Ryan O'Gorman. "He has just been remarkable," said Cattolico of O'Gorman.
The clubs traded first downs and possessions before Narragon finally shifted into high gear.
The senior running back carried three times for 52 yards to move the Cats down the field.
Warren took off for 15 yards, and Trent Edwards tossed nine yards to Kevin Krug on a key third-and-eight to set up Narragon for a short TD run from the 1. Ben Frazier kicked the extra point, and it was 13-0 early in the second period.
"Then the defense really started to play well, and forced them to punt," said the coach.
Narragon, who led the Cats with 162 yards on 30 carries, ran four times for 31 yards, and Edwards hit Krug with another pass to take Gatos to the 6.
The Cats moved to the 1, but an illegal procedure penalty pushed them back to the 6 with just seconds left in the half.
"I told Trent to either lay it up for the tight end, or just throw it out of the end zone so we would still have time to kick a field goal," said the coach.
Edwards laid it up the for tight end, all right. The sophomore drilled it to 6-foot-3 Ben Winkelman for six yards and a touchdown, and Frazier's kick made it 20-0 with just 13 seconds left in the half. "That really picked us up," said Cattolico of the late TD.
Gatos took the second half kickoff and marched right down the field on Paly. Narragon ran five times for 44 yards to set up a 9-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to Warren. Frazier's third kick made it 27-0.
The Vikes put together their best drive of the night following the kickoff, moving from their 4 to the Gatos 1. But Warren came up with a key hit on the goal line with help from Winkelman to keep Paly from getting into the end zone.
Narragon led the offensive attack with his 162 yards, and Warren came through with 110 yards on just six tries.
"He just had a phenomenal game," said the coach of Warren.
Derek Smith had five carries for 29 yards for the Cats. Matt Torres had a run for 14 yards, and Vince Caviglia carried once for 10.
Edwards hooked up on eight of 11 passes for 67 yards and two TDs, hitting Krug four times for 37 and Winkelman, Smith and Geno Gingery with one pass each.
Tackles O'Gorman and Mike Belsheim were studs in the offensive line along with center Nick Cisowski and guards Matt Spears, Brandon Chapatte and Rick Esparza.
Briston Lowry was the defensive leader with 12 tackles. "He's really played well for us," said the coach.
Defensive ends Jared Allen and Winkelman also played well. Allen was in on nine tackles, and Winkelman had eight. Each had a quarterback sack.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
