Bates put on quite a show last Friday night under the lights at Helm Field. The senior back raced for 300 yards and six touchdowns to lead the Wildcats to a rousing 49-7 win over Milpitas.

The win helped the Cats improve to 2-0 in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League and to 4-1 for the year as they prepare for a trip to Palo Alto to face Gunn on Oct. 17, 3:15 p.m.

The Titans, 0-2 in league play and 3-2 for the year, are coming off of a 49-6 drubbing at the hands of Wilcox. And if the Los Gatos running game is anything this Friday like it was last Friday, it could be a long day for the home team.

"It was working awfully well," said Cattolico of his club's ground attack. "But we had a lot of good field position because of their turnovers."

"I don't think Milpitas played extremely well, but I thought we did," he added. "The kids are playing better and getting more confidence."

Bates certainly must have gotten a confidence boost with his performance on Friday night, an effort that included a 56-yard touchdown run to open the third quarter that Cattolico called "one of the most incredible runs I've seen in a long time."

"He was hit at the line of scrimmage, then he was hit five yards past the line of scrimmage," said the coach. "He ran over one defensive back, then he ran over another defensive back."

"He has speed and strength and balance," he added. "He's like a horse coming down there. He's just hard to tackle."

Of course, like for any star performer, it takes a talented supporting staff to make a show successful. And such was the case in Friday night's "Danny Bates Show."

"The kids on the offensive line played really well," said Cattolico. "We were running quite a bit against nine and 10 man fronts."

Leading the effort up front were tackles Chris Danser and Liam Smith, guards Evan Wynne and Ryan Lecznar and center Danny Starrick. At times, Devin Scott would take over at center and the 320-pound Starrick would move out next to the 316-pound Danser so they could run "shoulder-to-shoulder," said Cattolico. "Danny said that with those guys on the same side, it tilted the field downward and made it feel like he was running downhill."

Fullback Ivan Batinich and tight end Mark Ericson also provided much of the blocking power for Bates in the game.

Batinich doubled as a linebacker on the defensive side of the ball and he played a key role in stopping Milpitas' 280-pound fullback Siwa Musika.

"He probably played as good a football game as he's played all year," said Cattolico of Batinich, who he said was excited about the prospect of going up against the big fullback. Batinich led the Wildcats with 11 tackles.

Eric Chen and Charles Talpas were in on six tackles apiece for the Cats and David Holtzman got in on five. Talpas had a quarterback sack and a fumble recovery, and Holtzman recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass.

Omar Ellahie, Matt Kinser, Matt Martini and Smith finished with four tackles each and Chad Blanchard, Brian Perin and Scott ended up with three each. Scott had two sacks, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble, and Blanchard had a sack.

"[Holtzman] played really well," said Cattolico, "and [Scott] had a pretty good game at noseguard."

Vince Bellotti, Jeff Collins, Nick Perrone, Nick Gaffney, Matt Showalter and Adam Gutto were also in tackles for the Cats.

Bates accounted for most of the Gatos offense with his 300 yards on 33 carries. Michael Brienzo chipped in with 43 yards on four tries and John Davidge carried four times for 18 yards.

Quarterback Eric Rollin threw just three passes, completing one for 19 yards to Ericson.

Los Gatos scored on its first possession of the night. Bates returned the kick-off 27 yards, then ran six straight times for 62 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown run. Nick Reimnitz kicked the first of seven extra points.

Milpitas seemed to answer right back with a long kick-off return, but Bellotti caught the speedy Trojan at the 9-yard line.

"He ran the kid down from behind," said Cattolico. "That turned out to be a really big saving tackle. Scott forced a fumble on the first Milpitas play from scrimmage and Holtzman recovered.

Milpitas got the ball, though, a few minutes later, but once more the Trojans fumbled it away. Kinser forced a fumble that Danser recovered, and the Cats took over at the Milpitas 28. Bates carried for six yards, then ran 22 yards for the touchdown.

Milpitas scored to cut the lead to 14-7 and was threatening late in the first half. But Scott and Batinich sacked the Milpitas quarterback to end the threat.

Los Gatos really went to work in the third quarter. Batinich forced a fumble that Blanchard recovered, and Bates took off on his 56-yard touchdown run.

From there, things went downhill in a hurry for the Trojans. Bates scored on a 2-yard run, then Milpitas didn't cover the kick-off and Talpas recovered at the Trojans' 18. A few plays later, Bates scored from the one.

Talpas then forced a fumble that Scott recovered. After Brienzo ran 29 yards, Bates eventually score don a 5-yard run.

The Holtzman interception set up the final Gatos touchdown, a 5-yard run by Davidge.

"We had it going pretty well in the second half," said Cattolico.