Four local high school football teams opened the 2014 season away from home on Sept. 5 and all returned winners.
Homestead and Fremont dominated teams from the Santa Teresa Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League, the Mustangs walloping Evergreen Valley 44-7 and the Firebirds spanking Gunderson 40-14, while Cupertino scored a 32-14 win over Prospect of the BVAL’s West Valley circuit. Monta Vista survived a tough challenge at Alameda of the North Coast Section, coming from behind for a 20-18 victory.
Lynbrook started its season at home, but lost 35-12 to Mt. Pleasant.
The King’s Academy will start its season on Sept. 12, hosting San Jose High (0-1), while Fremont, Homestead and Cupertino also play their home openers that night, each at 7 p.m.
Fremont will try to beat Monta Vista for the first time since 2009; Homestead will tangle with Piedmont Hills (0-0), an “A” league runner-up and a semifinalist in the Central Coast Section playoffs last year; and Cupertino will go for its 11th straight non-league win when it plays James Lick (0-0).
Looking to even its record, Lynbrook will play Saturday, 2 p.m., at San Mateo (1-0), a 27-20 winner at Gunn last week.
Mustangs roll
Led by quarterback Jerome Holloway and a stout defense that had five takeaways, Homestead took advantage of excellent field position to build a 34-0 halftime lead at Evergreen Valley on the road to a 44-7 win.
Holloway, who passed and ran for a combined 17 touchdowns as a sophomore, started his junior campaign with a trio of scores. He connected with senior Justin Miller for a 43-yard scoring pass on the team’s first offensive play and later ran for a pair of 19-yard TDs.
Holloway’s first scoring romp, part of a 27-point second quarter, was set up by junior Teddy Tefera’s interception and return to the EV 19. Moments later, junior Kylend Howard dashed 16 yards for a TD, one play after the defense forced and recovered a fumble.
Earlier, junior Sebastian Knoefel started the second-quarter spree with an 8-yard run and Zechariah Asselin turned a botched punt attempt by the Cougars into another six points. The senior linebacker covered a bouncing ball in the end zone after the EV center sailed the ball over the punter’s head.
Homestead added 10 points in the third quarter to make it 44-0, as Holloway earned his second TD run and senior John Rak capped a perfect kicking night with his fifth PAT and a 40-yard field goal, the longest of his three-year varsity career.
The Cougars rarely crossed midfield, but finally broke the shutout with a 40-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
Rak, a third-year varsity player who started at cornerback and wide receiver for the Mustangs in the opener, used his powerful right leg to keep EV pinned deep in its own territory much of the night. Six of his eight kickoffs sailed into the end zone for touchbacks, setting up the Cougars at their own 20.
Playing mainly at Evergreen’s end of the field, the Homestead defense kept the pressure on the Cougars, producing many three-and-outs as well as the aforementioned turnovers.
Junior linebacker DeVaun Crittle was the leader with 10 tackles, including two quarterback sacks and another stop behind the line. Asselin also had a big game with nine tackles, including a sack, and two fumble recoveries. Sergio Landaverde made seven stops and fellow senior Noe Barajas tackled six runners and caused one of the fumbles. Miller and senior Devin Williams each made four tackles, Howard had three and senior Joseph Faria added a QB sack. Tefera and senior Scott Snyder each had two tackles and a fumble recovery. Rak, sophomore Kelli Lackey, junior Ali Haider and seniors Donovan Aguilar and Jake Cervantes also made tackles.
Homestead coach Milo Lewis substituted liberally on both sides of the ball. He played three quarterbacks, giving Holloway some extra rest and junior Dominic Faria and senior Ian Claras some time running the offense, and he shared the running plays among seven backs.
Holloway finished as the team’s top rusher, running five times for 72 yards, and he completed 3 of 7 passes for 80 yards. Howard totaled 52 yards on four runs, including a 33-yard run. Senior Ryan Allemandi ran three times for 51 yards, including a 41-yarder. Knoefel and Lackey each ran four times for 32 yards, Tefera picked up 31 on five totes and Crittle gained 15 on three tries.
Miller finished with two catches for 48 yards, including a 5-yarder from D. Faria. Rak caught one ball for 28 yards and Knoefel grabbed another for nine.
The Mustangs averaged more than 10 yards per offensive play, totaling 370 offensive yards, including 285 on the ground, on 36 total plays, 28 runs and eight passes.
‘Tino tops Prospect
Prospect opened its bag of tricks on the first kickoff of the season, surprising Cupertino with a successful onside kick, but the visiting Pioneers rarely were caught off guard after that in their 32-14 victory.
Junior quarterback Anthony Pozzetti ran for three touchdowns and passed for another, leading Cupertino to its 10th straight non-league win dating back to 2012.
Prospect could not capitalize on its successful trickery at the outset, but Cupertino scored on its first two possessions to take a 15-0 lead.
Pozzetti scored the Pioneers’ first points of the season on a 1-yard run and senior running back Edison Hernandez scored a two-point conversion to make it 8-0. Pozzetti converted a fourth-down pass the next time ‘Tino had the ball, hitting senior receiver Kyle Avvakumovits for a 22-yard touchdown. Senior Alexis Silva kicked the extra point.
Prospect cut its deficit to 15-6 on the last play of the first half, when junior quarterback Sam Adams gave the home crowd something to cheer about–a 1-yard TD. The PAT kick was blocked.
In the second half, though, Cupertino tallied 17 consecutive points to stretch the lead to 32-6. Pozzetti added his second and third touchdown runs, a 1-yarder in the third quarter and a 6-yarder in the fourth. In between, senior Marcos Anton drilled a 35-yard field goal. Anton also kicked both extra points for the Pioneers in the second half.
Pozzetti totaled 148 yards, 106 passing and 42 on the ground. Avvakumovits was the top receiver with four catches for 65 yards.
Prospect was able to get the ball into the end zone once more, as Adams–in his first game as starting QB–combined with senior Tarnell Pollard on a 5-yard TD toss.
Other than a long-gainer of 55 yards to Pollard, Adams’ completions were short and quick, averaging about seven yards per completion. Adams had to get the ball out quickly, because the Pioneers kept the pressure on him. Cupertino coach Chris Oswald praised the secondary play of Avvakumovits and junior Tarun Nappoly, who picked off one of Adams’ passes, and senior Dylan Schutz for strong play at linebacker.
Mats top Alameda
Senior Sam Nastari rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns, including a go-ahead 26-yard romp with 3:41 left in the third quarter, leading Monta Vista’s 20-18 victory at Alameda, which fell to 0-2.
The Matadors scored first on a 53-yard TD run by Nastari in the first quarter, but the host Hornets led 18-13 at halftime on the strength of three short scoring runs.
Senior Max McCann was a big contributor on both sides of the ball. He gained 44 yards on seven carries, including a 14-yard TD in the second quarter, and he was one of the Matadors’ top tacklers with 12 from his strong safety position.
Other key defenders were a pair of linemen, senior Jasraj Ghuman (16 tackles) and junior Anshu Jain (10). Monta Vista held Alameda scoreless in the second half. Jain’s sacking of the quarterback at the Monta Vista 8-yard line stopped the Hornets’ final threat with 30 seconds remaining in the game.
Senior Amir Bashti chipped in with two PAT kicks out of three tries. Meanwhile, Alameda failed on all three of its extra point attempts: a kick, a run and a pass.
Playing in his first game at quarterback, junior Golan Gingold led the Matadors’ option attack to 271 yards, including 245 rushing. Alameda gained 266, all but 18 on the ground.
Gingold ran the ball 12 times for 40 yards and completed 3 of 7 passes for 26 yards.
Firebirds soar to win
Sophomore Philip Tran fired three touchdown passes in his debut as Fremont’s QB, including a pair to former frosh-soph teammate Jordan Hendy, leading the Firebirds to a 40-14 win at Gunderson.
Tran, who completed 6 of 18 passes for 161 yards, picked up 62 with one throw. His connection with senior Sam Kanongataa, along with the 6-foot-2, 230-pounder’s ensuing run after the catch, resulted in another TD.
Senior Devante Sanchez, the Firebirds leading ground gainer last season, led the team against the Grizzlies, rushing 14 times for 106 yards and a touchdown.
Fremont scored two defensive touchdowns, one on an interception return by junior Alejandro Morales, who picked off two passes and deflected a third, and another on a fumble recovery by junior Michael Alva.
Senior Austin Smith intercepted a Gunderson pass and grabbed one on offense for a 33-yard game.
Fremont totaled 361 yards of offense, 200 on the ground. In addition to Sanchez’s team-high total, senior Jisiah Ybarra gained 40 yards on seven carries, Tran picked up 34 on two runs and senior Kahileigh Creamer also ran twice for 20.
Creamer, Kanogataa and senior safety Michael Valles paced the defense with four tackles each. Junior Saul Scher and senior Sam Sanchez had three apiece. Other Fremont tacklers were Creamer, fellow seniors Thien Pham, Oscar Baerga, Jeremiah Holbrook, Afa Prescott, Bryan Landaverde and Smith, juniors D’Andre Wright and Dominic Acosta and sophomores Jayden Kiele and Jess Lopez.
