"We felt real good about our preparation, and we told the kids we would buy 'em pizza after the game if we won," said Parker. "I was so confident, I'd even written down the phone number to order the pizzas."

But there was no delivery for Willow Glen on Friday night—not by the pizza parlor, or the Rams.

Willow Glen lost 27-6 to the Warriors, and Parker still can't believe it.

"We had a lot of successes," said the coach after the game. "I can't believe we got beat by 21! That was a crusher."

The Rams had hopes of posting a win and moving into a virtual tie for first place in the West Valley Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League. But it wasn't to be. Yerba Buena built up a 20-6 lead by intermission and went on to nail down the victory. The Warriors are 4-0 in the division and 6-1 for the year. The Rams slipped to 1-2 in league and to 2-4 for the year.

"It was probably the best-hitting game we've had all year," said Parker. "But offensively we don't score points, and our defense is always on the field."

It's not that the Rams didn't have their chances. They ran up more than 200 yards of total offense, led by Justin Johnson's passing performance. The senior quarterback hit on 16 of 26 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown.

"I like our offense," added Parker. "We're in the shotgun and we spread the ball around pretty well. We just don't seem to make the big play."

On Friday night, though, the Rams weren't even making the little plays—and Yerba Buena was.

"We didn't convert very many third-down plays, and they seemed to make every one," said the coach. "When push came to shove, they made the first downs, and we didn't."

Willow Glen forced four turnovers in the game, including a fumble recovery on just the second play of the game. But a pass interception a few plays later gave the ball right back to the Warriors, and they cashed in for a touchdown.

"Whatever advantage we earned on defense, we coughed it right back to them," said Parker.

But the Rams were able to answer right back after Yerba Buena's early touchdown. A 20-yard pass from Johnson to Frank Sarinana set up a 15-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Alex Green. A penalty gave the Rams two tries for the conversion, but they missed both times and trailed 7-6 early in the game.

The Warriors scored two more touchdowns in the first half, then scored again on their first possession of the second half.

"We blew a couple of coverages," said Parker. "The kids got into the game and had some recognition problems."

Johnson led the offensive attack with his 16 completions. He hit Doug Dionne six times for 39 yards, Sarinana four times for 68 yards and three first downs, and Green and Tista Perry with two passes apiece—Green for 33 yards and Perry for 21.

Sarinana led the ground attack with 18 yards on seven carries, and Steve Lopez added 12 yards on four tries.

Dionne was the defensive leader for the Rams with nine tackles and his fourth pass interception of the year.

"He had another big night for us," said Parker. "He plays so hard, and he just flies all over the field."

George Ruiz and Adrian Morales supported with six tackles apiece, and cornerback Ricky Munoz came up to make a few key tackles for losses. Lopez and Amir Faraj-Perry each recovered YB fumbles.

Willow Glen will try to get back on the winning track this week when the Rams host San Jose Academy on Nov. 2, 1:30 p.m. The Bulldogs are 0-2 in the division and 0-6 for the year after losing 21-19 to Harker Academy on Friday.

Saturday will be the homecoming game for the Rams, who will begin the day with an 11 a.m. frosh-soph game.

The young Rams are 4-2 for the year and 2-1 in division play following a 6-2 win over Yerba Buena on Friday.