Willow Glen Resident
Sports
Leland opens up under the lights with win over Alvarez
By Mike Barnhart
As Leland football coach Mike Carrozzo wandered around the Almaden Valley campus on Sept. 19, he could sense a special atmosphere several hours before his team's first home game under the new, permanent lights at Pat Tillman Stadium.
"It was pretty exciting," Carrozzo observed. "Students were wearing school colors and face paint. I was every bit as impressed with the school spirit during the day as I was at the game."
Then, when the lights went on, the Chargers' defense took center stage, dominating Alvarez of Salinas from start to finish and leading the charge during a 12-0, non-league victory. With its first win, Leland's record improved to 1-1-1.
The visiting Eagles managed just one first down and were dropped for losses seemingly as often as they made positive yards. In fact, Alvarez's 39 offensive plays earned a total of minus-8 yards. "The defense was amazing," Carrozzo said.
Leland's defensive unit had six takeaways, four fumble recoveries and two interceptions. The first interception, by senior defensive end Ben Delamore in the first quarter, set up Leland's first touchdown.
On the second play after Delamore made a diving pick at the Alvarez 8-yard line, senior quarterback Will Boring connected with junior Evan Vuckovic on a 4-yard touchdown pass. The PAT kick was blocked.
Leland took advantage of another short field situation in the third quarter. Pinned down inside their 5-yard line, the Eagles had to punt into the wind from the back of their end zone. The result was disastrous for the visitors, but fantastic for Leland, which had not been able to take advantage of earlier opportunities.
The punt wobbled through the air until junior Vinnie Gemette grabbed it at the 18-yard line. Gemette then ran up the right sideline nine yards to the 9. After a Leland holding penalty and an offsides infraction against Alvarez, Gemette romped for a 14-yard touchdown. Again the PAT attempt was blocked.
"Obviously, our kick protection will be one of the things we try to shore up during our bye week," Carrozzo said.
The Chargers likely will try to make improvements to the offense as well. Despite great field position and many scoring chances against Alvarez, "the offense struggled a bit," Carozzo said.
Gemette was the top ball carrier for the Chargers, gaining 56 yards on 11 carries. Two other juniors, Jon Ruel (nine carries, 31 yards) and Vuckovic (three, 13), produced some strong runs.
Boring, who handles all the kicking chores in addition to his quarterback duties, accounted for 37 yards by completing 6 of 18 passes.
Senior middle linebacker Michael Santini led Leland's defenders with 13 tackles, raising his season total to 44. Matt Machado, another senior linebacker, made seven tackles and an interception. Senior tackle Amir Tadros made five stops, including a sack, and forced a fumble. Matt McDonald also had a sack and a forced fumble. Senior lineman Alex Nunes recovered two fumbles, while junior lineman Alex Rorie and senior defensive back Tom Felt picked up one apiece.
The Chargers will resume action on Oct. 3, 7 p.m., against visiting Westmont. The game against the Warriors (1-1) will be the Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division opener for both teams.
Like Leland, Westmont also earned its first victory last Friday night. The Warriors beat Prospect 13-7, bouncing back from a 56-0 drubbing to Serra. In Leland's season opener, the Chargers and Prospect battled to a 28-28 tie.