Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Diving ahead for a big gain is Joey Warren of Los Gatos. Warren had three carries for 42 yards and also caught a pass for 21 yards in the Wildcats' 56-14 win over Homestead.

Cats come back for win

Gatos battles back from 14-0 deficit to beat Homestead

By Dick Sparrer

The Los Gatos football coaches knew it. And so did their players. Heck, the Homestead coaches probably knew it, too.

The Wildcats were going to beat the Mustangs when the two clubs lined up for a Thursday night game in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League.

Heck, the Cats were taking a 6-0 season record and 3-0 league mark into the game, and the Mustangs were a dismal 0-2 in league and 2-4 for the season.

So everyone knew what the outcome would be... everyone, that is, but the Homestead players.

The Mustangs must have been just a bit foggy on that point, because they jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead. And just over three minutes into the game, they had upset on their minds.

That fact was not lost on Gatos head coach Butch Cattolico. He had hoped to try a few different things offensively and play everyone in the Thursday game. But after just a few minutes of play, he quickly shifted to Plan B.

"There was 8:42 to go in the first quarter, and we were down 14-0 and hadn't touched the ball yet," said Cattolico. "I decided we were going to have to go back to what we do well." What the Cats do well is run the football. And they ran it right at the Mustangs for five unanswered touchdowns before intermission, and three more in the second half to post a 56-14 victory.



"To their credit, they came out and did some things well," said Cattolico of Homestead.

The Mustangs scored on the second play after the opening kickoff, then converted a two-point conversion to take a quick 8-0 lead.

Homestead bounced a short kickoff and recovered the loose ball at the Gatos 40. Five plays later, the Mustangs completed a 28-yard TD toss, and were up 14-0. But that's when the Gatos offense took over.

Justin Narragon capped a nine-play drive with a 10-yard touchdown run, and Ben Frazier kicked the extra point. A 28-yard run by Joey Warren was the key play on the drive.The defense settled down to stop the Mustangs on three plays to force a punt, then the offense went back to work.

This time it took the Cats 12 plays to go 62 yards for the game-tying score. Narragon went the final yard for the touchdown, and Frazier converted. A 12-yard pass from Trent Edwards to Brian Edwards was a big play on the march.

Once more the defense stopped Homestead, and once more the offense answered right back.

B. Edwards returned the Homestead punt 40 yards, and Derek Smith capped a short 33-yard drive with a 12-yard TD run.

"Then the game started to settle in to what we thought it would be," admitted Cattolico.

John Glage dropped a Homestead ball carrier for a loss, and B. Edwards knocked down a pass to key another defensive stand, and once more the Mustangs had to punt.



T. Edwards threw to Kevin Krug for 16 yards to help set up a 15-yard TD run by Smith.

Gatos made it 35-14 moments later when T. Edwards tossed to Warren for 21 yards and Krug for 20 to set up a one-yard touchdown run by Narragon. Frazier kicked his fifth extra point, and Gatos had a comfortable lead at the intermission.

Kyle Shaffer got the Cats off to a good start in the second half when he returned the kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown, and when Krug broke a screen pass from Matt Torres 59 yards for a touchdown, the Wildcats had a commanding 49-14 cushion.

But Gatos got one final touchdown before the game ended. A 20-yard run by Shane Rogers set up Vince Caviglia for a six-yard touchdown run. Frazier kicked his eighth extra point, and the Cats had their 56-14 win.

"Everyone got to play, and every running back got to carry the football," said Cattolico after the win. "And defensively, after the first two series, we shut 'em down pretty good."

Narragon led the offensive assault with 15 carries for 139 yards, and Smith supported with 77 yards on 15 tries. Warren had three carries for 42 yards and caught a pass for 21.



Shaffer had five carries for 25 yards, Rogers one for 20, Caviglia three for 14, Torres one for 11 and Nick Skrabe one for three.

T. Edwards hooked up on four of six passes for 70 yards, and Torres had the one completion for 59 yards and the touchdown. Krug caught three balls for 99 yards, and B. Edwards had a catch for 12.

The Wildcats ran up more than 450 yards of total offense, 331 of that on the ground, working behind an offensive line of center Nick Cisowski, tackles Mike Belsheim and Philip Masleid and guards Brandon Chapatte, Rick Esparza and Nick McAlpine.

Skrabe and Jared Allen were the defensive leaders for the Wildcats, getting in on 11 tackles apiece in the win, and Glage and Ben Winkelman were in on seven each.

B. Edwards, Scott Soucy, Ryan Callahan and Bret Maryon were in on six tackles each, and Jason Rosa was in on five. Mike Vyhnal, Dan Kramer, Warren and Markus Willard were each in on four tackles.

Allen, Maryon and McGuan each had quarterback sacks.

Los Gatos, 4-0 in the division and 7-0 for the year, takes its record against powerful Wilcox on Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m. The Chargers are 5-1-1 for the year and 2-1-1 in league play.

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