The Chargers were going to be dangerous enough, considering that the game between Wilcox and Los Gatos figured to decide the championship in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League. But now the Chargers appear to be even more dangerous than ever after the forfeits stripped them of a shot at the league title and a berth in the Central Coast Section playoffs.

"In all fairness, this is their CCS championship, World Series and NBA final all it one," said Cattolico of the Chargers. "They have nothing else to go for—nothing to lose."

"And we need to play better than we did tonight," he added.

Cattolico was referring to his club's performance in a 28-6 win over Saratoga in a non-league game Friday at Helm Field. Los Gatos led 21-0 at intermission, but a game Saratoga club gave the Cats all they could handle in the second half.

"They played well," said Cattolico of Saratoga. "They came out in the second half and did what they had to do."

"What they did was what they've tried to do for the last few years—keep our offense off the field," he added. And they did it in the third quarter, running 16 plays while holding the Cats to just eight. But the Falcons could score just one touchdown in the game and Gatos answered that third-quarter TD with one of its own to clinch the 28-6 victory.

"We're not interested in a moral victory, we're not interested in scoring 100 points," said Cattolico. "What we want is to look at that scoreboard at the end of the game and have one more point than they do."

Friday night, they had 22 more points.

The Wildcats got off to an impressive start, scoring 21 points and running up 193 yards of total offense in the first half. Danny Bates led the attack with 146 yards on 17 carries, and Eric Rollin pitched a pair of touchdown passes.

But Saratoga shut down Bates in the second half. The talented senior back added just nine net yards on nine carries in the final two periods and the Wildcats could add just 91 additional yards.

"It's hard to practice for them," said Cattolico. "They give you so many different looks [defensively]."

But one look that didn't work very well for the Falcons came on the first play of the game when they left the middle wide open. Bates shot through the hole and was off to the races for a 62-yard touchdown run.

A quarterback sack by Chris Cuthbert forced the Falcons into three plays and a punt after the kick-off, then the Wildcats went to work again.

Bates carried the load on an eight-play, 61-yard drive—carrying five times for 23 yards—and Michael Brienzo had a couple of runs for 15 yards before Rollin hit Brienzo with a 28-yard TD toss.

"Eric threw the ball well tonight," said the coach of Rollin, who completed 8 of 12 passes for 115 yards and three scores.

Los Gatos would score one more time before the half. Rollin capped a 12-play, 62-yard march with a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Ericson. Nick Reimnitz kicked his third extra point, and the Cats were up 21-0 at intermission.

The third quarter belonged to the Falcons. Saratoga ground out 116 yards on the turf in the period, including a 43-yard TD run by Dayne McGee.

Los Gatos wanted to force Saratoga to throw the football, but the Falcons were able to keep the ball on the ground much of the night.

"They can't throw the ball," said Cattolico. "We had to get them out of that thing that's comfortable for them."

But Saratoga comfortably—and effectively—ran the option in the third quarter and moved the ball down the field. Still, the Falcons could manage just one touchdown, and Gatos got that one back when Rollin found Matt Martini for 28 yards and a score in the fourth.

Martini finished the night with four catches for 67 yards and Brienzo caught two balls for 39.

Chad Blanchard was the Gatos tackling leader with 11 stops in the win and Cuthbert and David Holtzman were in on eight apiece. Cuthbert and Charles Talpas each sacked Saratoga quarterback Bret Granum twice in the game and Blanchard, Devin Scott and Evan Wynne had one each.

Talpas and Brian Perin finished with five tackles apiece and Eric Chen was in on four. Scott, Wynne, Ivan Batinich, Martini and Vince Bellotti added three each. Matt Kinser, Brian Bolandi and Chris Danser were also in on tackles.

Tackles Danser and Liam Smith, guards Wynne and Ryan Lecznar, center Danny Starick and tight end Ericson led the Cats to 169 yards on the ground in the game and protected Rollin, who was never touched on the night.