Cats continue Thanksgiving tradition
Los Gatos opens withwin over Prospect
By Dick Sparrer
Thanksgiving football is a tradition in Los Gatos. It dates back to the Los Gatos-Campbell rivalry that survived nearly half a century before the advent of the Central Coast Section playoffs and the closure of Campbell High School.
But even with Campbell gone, Los Gatos has managed to continue playing on Thanksgiving by participating in the CCS playoffs.
And this weekend, the tradition lives on.
Los Gatos pounded Prospect 34-6 last Friday night to remain alive in the CCS Division III playoffs. The Wildcats will take on Mitty on Nov. 27, 7 p.m., at San Jose PAL Stadium in the semifinals, with the winner moving on the Division III championship game.
Mitty will take an 8-3 season record up against the 11-0 Wildcats, and head coach Butch Cattolico and the Cats aren't about to take the Monarchs lightly.
"Mitty's a real sound football team," said Cattolico of the Monarchs. "They play pretty good defense and they're very disciplined."
"They run a wing T," he added, "and the good news is we've seen a lot of wing T this year."
But right now, Cattolico is more concerned about his own Wildcats than he is the Mon-archs. "We've got to get our act together," he said. "I didn't feel like we played all that well on Friday night."
The Cats won the game 34-6, but they led just 14-6 at the half after running only 18 offensive plays to Prospect's 28. "We just weren't on offense very much," Cattolico said.
Still, the Wildcats held the advantage at intermission. And they came out in the second half and took over the football game.
"They took away the strong side of our running game," said Cattolico. "But once we started running the weak side, our running backs went for over 200 yards. And at that point, we were dominating the football game."
Justin Narragon carried 26 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns, and Derek Smith ran nine times for 85 yards and a TD.
Senior Ben Winkelman and junior Brian Edwards also starred in the game for the Wildcats.
Winkelman hauled in a touchdown pass for the Cats, and was also in on eight tackles and recovered a fumble.
"He maybe played his best game this year," said Cattolico of Winkelman. "He played an outstanding game."
Edwards was also outstanding for Gatos with two catches for 18 yards, a pass interception, five tackles and a punt return that was good for a touchdown and "Play of the Week" honors on KICU-Channel 36's High School Sports Focus show.
Winkelman and Edwards helped the Cats jump out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
Briston Lowry forced a fumble that Winkelman recovered to set up the first TD. A 12-yard pass from Trent Edwards to Nick Skrabe got the Cats close, and Narragon blasted over from the 3 for the TD. Ben Frazier kicked the extra point to make it 7-0.
B. Edwards ran back a punt 43 yards for a touchdown later in the period and Frazier converted again to up the lead to 14-0.
Prospect scored before the half, but Winkelman stopped the Panthers on the two-point attempt.
Gatos really went to work in the second half. A 28-yard run by Narragon keyed a 55-yard drive that he capped when he blasted over from the 1; then Smith went 33 yards for a touchdown.
Smith and Narragon carried the ball to get the Cats close again, and T. Edwards tossed a yard to Winkelman for the TD. Frazier booted his fourth extra point, and the Cats had the 34-6 win.
T. Edwards completed five of 10 passes for 35 yards, hitting B. Edwards twice and Skrabe, Winkelman and Kevin Krug with a pass each.
Skrabe and Jared Allen were in on nine tackles apiece to lead the defense. Winkelman was in on eight stops and B. Edwards, Lowry and Joey Warren were in on five each. Scott Soucy, John Espe and Ryan O'Gorman had four tackles each and Steve Smith had three. Lowry, O'Gorman, Allen and Smith each sacked the Prospect quarterback, and B. Edwards and Warren intercepted passes.
Jason Rosa, Jon Glage, Markus Willard, Kyle Shaffer, Vince Caviglia, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Chapatte, Rick Esparza, Mike Vyhnal, Randy Reilly and Bret Maryon were also in on tackles for the Wildcats.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
