Schonig touchdowns lead Tigers to victory
By Dick Sparrer
Jake Schonig returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, then scored on a 15-yard run to lead the Los Gatos Tigers to a thrilling 29-19 Pop Warner Football League win over the East County Eagles.
Schonig answered a couple of East County touchdowns with the two TDs, and Sean Goodison helped close out the win for Los Gatos with a pass interception that ended all Eagles hopes for a comeback.
The win pushed the Tigers to 5-4 for the year and into the Division II championship game in the junior pee wee division.
Schonig recovered an East County fumble, then broke loose on a 50-yard touchdown run to give the Tigers the early lead. Blocks by Nick Kalpin and Nick Smith helped spring Schonig on the TD run.
Nick Cruz recovered a fumble to stop another EC threat, but the clubs ended up locked in a 6-6 tie at the half.
The Tigers blocked an Eagles punt early in the second half and, after a 10-yard run by Smith, Schonig followed a block by Kalpin to scamper 40 yards for a touchdown. Smith ran for the extra point to give Gatos a 13-6 lead.
The Eagles ran back the kickoff for a touchdown to cut the lead to 13-12. But Schonig answered right back with an 80-yard kickoff return for a TD to give his club a 22-12 lead.
Once more, the Eagles scored to trim the Gatos advantage to just 22-19, but Schonig scored again, and Smith ran in for the point after to make the final 29-19.
Goodison, Smith, Kalpin, Kevin Fowler, Jeffrey Pepper, Kellan Barker, Alex Estrada and Nathan Estores were defensive stars in the win.
A week earlier, the Tigers had lost a 6-0 heartbreaker to Oak Grove Central. Kalpin, Barker, Mat Petrillo and Pepper were praised for their work defensively.
The Panthers (pee wee division) opened the playoffs with a rousing 29-6 win over Oak Grove East to push them into the Division II championship game. The Panthers are 5-2-2 for the year.
Cameron Compton ran for two touchdowns, and Stefan Fowler and Richard Scudellari scored one each for the Panthers in the win. Scudellari kicked a pair of two-point conversions, and Kevin McCarty ran in for an extra point.
Jeffrey West carried three times for 33 yards to lead the Panthers on a 60-yard drive that Compton capped with a 1-yard TD plunge to close out the scoring.
The Panthers had tied the Oak Grove Redcoats 7-7 a week earlier. McCarty scored the lone touchdown for Los Gatos.
Compton, Fowler and West led the ground attack, with Brennen Barker leading the charge in the offensive line.
Linebacker Scudellari joined with linemen Robby LaBouff, Riley Katolin and Jacob Whitaker to lead the defensive effort.
The Cougars (junior midget) qualified for the playoffs with a 30-0 win over Bayside.
In other action, the Jaguars (junior pee wee) lost 18-0 to Sunnyvale 2, and the Bobcats (pee wee) lost 39-0 to Coastside.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
