Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier
Los Altos High quarterback Sai Pela, right, hands off to Vernis James during last Friday's 33-20 home loss to Wilcox.
Special to the Town Crier
Los Altos puts a scare into Wilcox
Prep Football Digest
he St. Francis High football program has pulled a lot of rabbits out of its helmets over the past two decades, but what this season's unit has done in the past three weeks has been simply amazing.
Three weeks ago, the top-ranked Lancers came from behind to edge No. 2 Oak Grove, 15-14 on a touchdown pass and two-point conversion with 1:08 remaining.
Last Friday night, St. Francis (4-0) produced a improbable 51-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Pat Dillingham to senior receiver Forrest Mozart with seven seconds left to nip visiting Skyline 19-16.
The game-winning connection came 11 seconds after Skyline (2-1) took a 16-13 advantage on a 34-yard touchdown pass with just 18 seconds left. It was St. Francis' first win over the Oakland school since 1994.
"In my 13 years of coaching, I've never experienced anything like this," said Skyline coach John Beam. "I've never gone from a high to a low so fast in my life.
Said St. Francis coach Mike Mitchell: "Beating a team with such great athletes and speed is nice. It gives us some confidence."
St. Francis will pack its momentum and magic dust to Concord on Friday at 7:30 p.m. for a date against De La Salle (3-0), owner's of a national record 91-game win streak.
De La Salle, the top-ranked team in the state and No. 4 in the nation drilled national powerhouse Mater Dei of Southern California 42-0 last Saturday and has not lost to St. Francis since 1989.
Los Altos
Los Altos (1-2) fell behind 20-0, then mounted a second-half charge only to fall short against visiting Wilcox 33-20 in a non-league match-up last Friday.
Wilcox (3-0), the No. 4 ranked team in CCS, took advantage of special teams miscues by Los Altos to tally 20 second-quarter points and held on despite an outstanding performance by Eagles' quarterback Sai Pela. Pela threw three second-half touchdown passes, two to receiver Steve Holloway for 42 and seven yards, respectively.
The Eagles play Saratoga in a non-league contest at Los Gatos High on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Mountain View
Mountain View (1-2) was outweighed by an average of 65 pounds across the line of scrimmage and just couldn't find any momentum in a 27-0 non-league loss at Palo Alto last Friday.
Palo Alto (1-2) limited the Spartans to just 31 yards of offense and recorded five sacks in the rout. One bright spot for Mountain View was its defense, which played well throughout the game despite a huge size disadvantage.
Senior running back Ricardo Lopez led Mountain View with 32 yards rushing on 10 carries. The Spartans commence SCVAL El Camino play on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Cupertino (0-3).
Gunn
Gunn (1-2) put up a good fight against Los Gatos before losing to the Wildcats, 42-14 last Friday night at Los Gatos in a non-league match-up.
The Titans came in as prohibitive underdogs, yet kept the game interesting. They trailed just 21-14 until late in the third quarter, thanks to a strong running game and stingy defense. Senior quarterback Justin Silverman and junior fullback Dustin Steward tallied touchdowns for Gunn.
Los Gatos (3-0), the No. 3 team in the Central Coast Section, wore down Gunn in the second half. But the Titans held their own for most of the game and gained some invaluable confidence heading into their SCVAL El Camino Division opener Friday against Lynbrook at 7:30 p.m. at Foothill College.
Homestead
Homestead improved to 2-1 on the young season with a 30-0 non-league licking of Lynbrook last Friday night at Fremont High in Sunnyvale.
Homestead (2-1) scored all of its points in the first half against the outmanned Vikings (1-2) and were led by the impressive performance of running back Darrell Turner, who scored on runs of 88 and 18 yards. Turner finished with 122 yards rushing on just 10 carries and was assisted by Robbie Garcia, who ran for 97 yards on 16 carries and tallied a touchdown.
The Mustangs play at Wilcox Friday at 7:30 p.m.