Falcons roll to win over Fremont

Panthers post victory; Vikings, Warriors both fall

By Dick Sparrer

Fremont didn't have to eat up much real estate to score a couple of touchdowns against Saratoga last Friday night.

An interception set up one TD for the Firebirds, and a failed attempt by the Falcons on a fake punt set up another that tied the game 14-14 early in the second half.

But just when the Firebirds thought they were back in the football game, they really weren't. Because the Falcons were just going to work.

"We got our offense going [in the second half]," said Saratoga head coach Kurt Heinrich. "Marko Trapani and Kevin Tanner did a good job on our offensive scheme. They made some good adjustments at halftime, and the kids were able to implement then on the run."

The result was three second-half score that sparked the Falcons to a 31-14 nonleague win over the Firebirds.

The win helped Saratoga improve to 2-0 in the young season heading into a game this week against Lynbrook. The Falcons will host the Vikings on Sept. 22, 7:30 p.m., at Los Gatos.

"They looked very good against Burbank," said Heinrich of the Vikings, who won their opener 23-8 over Luther Burbank of Sacramento before losing to Homestead 49-18 last Saturday night. "They nave a nice fullback and a good option attack."

But Saratoga's pretty good, too. And Heinrich hopes that his Falcons show a little better this week than they did early in the game against Fremont.

"We were a little too ragged," said Heinrich. "We made too many mental mistakes and had too many penalties. We'll have to work on that this week."

Still, the Falcons were able to jump in front early against the Firebirds. Kirk Robinson took off on a 56-yard touchdown run in the first period and A.J. Weitsman converted to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead.

"It was a nice option read by Scott Moran, our quarterback," said Heinrich of the TD run. "He read the defense, and at the last possible moment pitched the ball to Robinson."

Fremont scored next, but Ian McAllister broke a 19-yard touchdown run in the second period to give the Falcons a 14-6 lead at intermission.

The Firebirds tied the game 14-14 in the third period after taking over at the Saratoga 10 followed a fake punt.

"That one was my fault," admitted Heinrich. "We wanted to test the defense, and we almost had 'em out of there. But they got a pass in on fourth and 10 [for the touchdown]."

That's when the Falcons caught fire.

Robinson blasted over from the 1-yard-line for a third-period score, and Weitsman, who converted after each of Saratoga's four touchdowns, kicked a 22-yard field goal.

"He's a nice addition to our team," said Heinrich of Weitsman. "We didn't have a kicker, so I was talking to some kids on our team and asked them who the soccer player with the strongest leg was."

The answer was A.J. Weitsman, and Heinrich invited him to join the football squad.

"He's got an unbelievable leg," said the coach.

The Falcons closed out the scoring in the fourth when senior back James Lii took off on a 19-yard TD run.

"James did a nice job of picking his way through the defense," said Heinrich. "He did a lot of it on his own."

Robinson was the top ground gainer for the Falcons with 80 yards on just five carries. Fullback Todd Ziegler pounded 12 times for 69 yards, Lii picked up 51 yards on 10 tries and McAllister finished with 39 yards on six carries.

Moran went to the air just four times, completing a pass to tight end Troy Follmar for 20 yards.

"He ran our offense very well," said Heinrich of his quarterback.

And the coach was especially pleased with the play of the offensive line, praising the work of guards Greg Van Hoesen and Connor Peck, center John Hart, tackles Jon Moshier and sophomore Chris Barrett and tight end Follmar.

"Van Hoesen did a great job on the perimeter on our sweeps, getting some great blocks on the corners," said the coach.

Heinrich was also pleased with the effort of his defensive squad.

"We gave them a short field for both of their scores," said Heinrich. "I know they played pretty sound all the way through."

Vikings are 1-1

Lynbrook slipped to 1-1 for the season after a lopsided 49-18 loss to Homestead last Saturday night.

The Vikings had opened the year in impressive fashion with a 23-8 victory over Luther Burbank of Sacramento.

Sean Imai flipped touchdown passes for Brodie Maag and Ray Supan, and Josh Huizar raced for 160 yards on 19 carries to lead the Vikings offensively in the win.

Huizar and Fernando Rodriguez were the tackling leaders for Lynbrook against Burbank. Greg New picked off a pass and Paul Niedermier recovered a fumble.

Warriors fall

Westmont could have kicked an extra point after its fourth-quarter touchdown against Lincoln last Friday night, and the Warriors could have walked off with a 7-7 tie and their unbeaten record intact.

They could have, but that's not the way Tom Sweeney's been doing business in his illustrious 30-year career as an area high school football coach.

A tie would prove meaningless in the nonleague game. So instead of calling on Dustin Peterson to tack on the game-tying point, the coach called on senior quarterback Chris Snyder to get the Warriors into the endzone.

But Snyder, whose 22-yard touchdown pass to junior Todd Bethke had pulled the Warriors to within a point, was stopped short in his effort to run for the 2-point conversion, and the Warriors ended up losing a 7-6 heartbreaker to the Lions.

The loss followed a season-opening win over Fremont and left Westmont 1-1 for the year. The Warriors will try to get back on the winning track this week when they host Mt. Pleasant on Sept. 22, 7:15 p.m., under the lights at Westmont.

After a scoreless first period, Lincoln took the lead last Friday with a second-quarter touchdown. That 7-0 lead stood up at intermission and held through the third quarter.

But Snyder got the Warriors on the scoreboard in the fourth period with his 22-yard scoring toss to Bethke. The conversion try failed, though, and the Warriors came up a point short.

Snyder completed 10-of-23 passes for 77 yards in the game, hitting senior wide receiver Brian Mazikowski five times.

The Warriors were stopped cold on the ground, rushing for just 29 total yards against the Lions.

Senior linebacker Billy Stouffer was the tackling leader for the Warriors, getting in on 12 stops. Bethke was in on nine tackles, Mike Hilbert eight and Aremon Habibi seven.

Ben Peterson picked off a pass in the first period and ran it back 24 yards, but the Warriors weren't able to capitalize on the early turnover.

Prospect rolls

Senior speedster Saladin Washington and junior Ray Woodie combined for over 300 yards rushing to lead Prospect to a rousing 27-6 win over Mt. Pleasant last Friday afternoon.

Washington carried 18 times for 171 yards and two first-half touchdowns to lead the Panthers to their first victory of the season. Washington scored on a 1-yard run in the first quarter, then took off on an electrifying 78-yard TD run in the second period to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead at the half.

Woodie, who supported Washington's effort with 143 yards on nine carries, made it 21-0 in the third period with a 43-yard touchdown dash.

Prospect closed out the scoring in the final period when senior quarterback Curtis Wills tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Mike Stephens.

Mike Reclusado starred defensively for the Panthers with three pass interceptions and junior defensive lineman Ryan Schaeffers topped all tacklers with eight stops.

The Panthers, now 1-1, will have their hands full this week when they visit powerful Leigh on Sept. 22, 3:30 p.m. The Longhorns are also 1-1, opening the year with an impressive win over Palo Alto before losing 49-20 to Los Gatos last Friday night.

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