And head coach Butch Cattolico and his 2003 Wildcats hope to make things even more special for the former Cats by continuing their unbeaten string with a victory over St. Francis.

That, however, will be no easy feat.

"They've got quite a few kids who are back for their third varsity season," said Cattolico of the Lancers. "This is kind of their year—this is their team. It's going to be a challenge for our kids."

The Wildcats have been up to the challenge for the past three season, putting together an unbeaten string that stretched to 40 games last Friday with a 22-7 win over Aragon. But the only mar in that streak was a tie against St. Francis in last season's Central Coast Section Division III championship game.

"They're big and physical up front," said Cattolico of the club his Cats will face on Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., at Helm Field.

Of course, Aragon was pretty big and physical, too, and the Cats were able to pull out a season-opening victory.

"We played well considering how many of our kids were starting their first varsity game and considering the weather conditions," said Cattolico of the hot Friday afternoon. "For a team that graduated 22 starters, playing a team of Aragon's caliber, I thought the kids did pretty well."

The Wildcats got off a hot start in more ways than one on the 90-plus degree afternoon. The Dons moved the ball a bit after the opening kickoff, but David Holtzman knocked down a pass on third and seven and Aragon had to punt the ball away.

Gatos started inside its own 30 but quickly moved the first-down stake on a 20-yard pass from Eric Rollin to Michael Brienzo. On the next play, Danny Bates was off to the races on a 44-yard touchdown run and Nick Reimnitz kicked the extra point.

"I thought Danny ran extremely well," said Cattolico of his senior tailback, who led the offense with 24 carries for 185 yards and a couple of touchdowns. "He had some big runs."

Los Gatos would get the ball back quickly after the ensuing kickoff. Aragon fumbled a snap and Devin Scott pounced on the loose ball at the Dons' 25-yard line. Bates ran for eight yards and Brienzo for nine more before Bates when the final eight for the touchdown.

The point after snap was high, but Chris Little grabbed it and took off to score a 2-point conversion, putting the Cats on top 15-0 in the first quarter.

The Dons had trouble moving the ball again, thanks in no small part to rugged linebacker Ivan Batinich. The senior 'backer hit the big Aragon fullback to force a fumble and recovered it himself to get the ball back for the Cats. But Gatos fumbled the football right back to the Dons and they broke a 63-yard touchdown run on the next play.

But Los Gatos answered right back. Rollin hooked up with Matt Martini on a 53-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second period. Reimnitz converted, and that would turn out to be the final point scored that day.

"Nobody got close in the second half," said Cattolico. "They ended up with 148 yards rushing, and they got 118 of that in the first quarter."

The Dons did have one opportunity, moving to the Gatos 25 in the second half. But Vince Bellotti came up to hit the Aragon tailback short of a first down on fourth and one.

Rollin finished the day hitting on 5 of 8 passes for 91 yards.

"I thought he played well," said Cattolico of his junior quarterback. "He threw the ball well and he did a good job of running the offense."

Batinich was the defensive star for the Cats, getting in on 18 tackles and recovering a fumble.

"He's been kind of special out there," said Cattolico of Batinich.

Holtzman finished with 11 tackles and knocked down a couple of passes and Chad Blanchard had 10 tackles, including a quarterback sack.

Scott had nine tackles to go with his fumble recovery and Eric Chen finished with nine tackles and an interception. Bellotti ended up with seven tackles and "played a great game," said Cattolico.

The coach also praised the work of Martini and Matt Kinser for their work in the secondary against Aragon's talented wide receiver. Martini finished with six tackles and an interception and Kinser was in on five tackles and knocked down two passes.

Derek Thomas had a sack among his three tackles and knocked down two passes, and Mark Ericson had a knockdown and three tackles.

Chris Cuthbert, Chris Danser, Chas Talpas, Liam Smith and Evan Wynne were in on four tackles each, Omar Ellahie finished with three and Bates and Nick Perrone had one each.

The coach was pleased with the play of the offensive line on the first two drives of the game, but he was disappointed with the group's overall performance.