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Published on 09/15/1999 All articles from this issue

St. Francis works more of that magic in 15-14 win

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By Craig Wentz

Special to the Town Crier

Prep Football Digest

MV comes up short

Mountain View (0-1) fell behind 20-0 at halftime and couldn't recover in a 27-12 season-opening loss to 15th-ranked Terra Nova (1-0) in a non-league game in Pacifica.

The Spartans trailed 27-0 before quarterback Ryan Malatesta raced 68 yards for a touchdown. That was followed by a 10-yard scoring run by Brian Johnson in the fourth quarter.

Senior Ricardo Lopez led the Spartans with 63 yards rushing on 16 carries.

The Spartans host Sequoia at 3:15 p.m., Friday.

Gunn romps

Gunn opened its season by beating up on a green Greenfield team 39-0 last Friday in Palo Alto.

Greenfield, playing its first year of varsity football, was no match for the Titans.

Halfback Curtis Walker scored on a 60-yard run on Gunn's second play for a quick lead. Walker wound up with 120 yards.

The Titan defense intercepted two passes, recovered a fumble and blocked a punt.

Gunn plays at Santa Teresa at 3:15 p.m., Friday.

Homestead falls

The St. Francis High football program never ceases to amaze fans or opponents with its uncanny knack for resiliency. Last Friday night, that Lancer magic continued in a 15-14 non-league win over Oak Grove at San Jose City College.

Top-ranked St. Francis and No. 2 Oak Grove know each other well, having played one another several times this decade. They've met in the past two Central Coast Section Division I championship games, with St. Francis winning last year and Oak Grove the year before.

A good portion of their regular season and postseason match-ups have been classics, including Friday night's thriller.

Trailing 14-7 with three minutes to play, the Lancers went on a 10-play, 55-yard drive that culminated with a Pat Dillingham to Chase Lyman 27-yard touchdown pass to cut the margin to 14-13 with 1:06 left. St. Francis coach Mike Mitchell wouldn't settle for a tie, as Dillingham found Lyman in the corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion and the win.

"They seemed like they were in control of the game, but we stayed in it and gave our kids a chance to win it at the end," Mitchell said.

Senior running back Ronald Nunn paced the Lancers with 133 yards rushing on 13 carries and was a key component on the game-winning drive, picking up a pair of critical first downs.

St. Francis hosts Palo Alto at 7:30 p.m., Friday in a non-league contest.

Inexperienced Homestead learned a few hard lessons, yet played gutty football in a 20-12 setback to Del Mar last Thursday at Fremont High in Sunnyvale.

With only 12 returning players and a new head coach in Rob Ralph, the Mustangs trailed 14-6 at halftime. But they couldn't garner any continuity in the second half of their season opener.

David Tucker tallied Homestead's first points of the year on an 11-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and was followed by quarterback Aaron Mansfield's 6-yard scoring run in the fourth.

Homestead will try to regroup against Monta Vista at 7:30 p.m., Friday at Fremont High.