On a night when its rugged defense allowed a season-high 21 points, the Fremont offense more than made up the difference against Los Altos last week.
Spurred by another big game from sophomore quarterback Phillip Tran, the Firebirds rang up season bests of 57 points and 545 yards of total offense en route to a 57-21 dismantling of the Eagles in the El Camino Division of the Santa Clara Athletic League.
The victory kept the Firebirds unbeaten at 6-0 overall, 3-0 in league.
Tran completed 11 of 21 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns as Fremont tallied points in all four quarters of a game for the first time this season. The Firebirds have outscored their opponents 240-68 on their way to their 6-0 start, and have scored at least six points in 19 of the 24 quarters they have played.
Tran, who has thrown for 12 touchdowns and over 1,000 yards already this season, hooked up with Jordan Hendy for first half TD strikes of 35 and 15 yards, and then connected with Michael Valles for a 9-yard paydirt pitch during a 21-point third quarter outburst that expanded Fremont’s 29-7 halftime lead to 50-14.
Hendy, who caught three passes for 58 yards, capped the Firebirds’ offensive onslaught with a 58-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
In addition to Tran’s prolific passing numbers, Fremont rang up a season-high 317 yards on the ground as the Firebirds averaged 9.6 yards per carry. Senior Devante Sanchez led the land assault with 134 yards on 16 carries, bolting for touchdown runs of 38 and four yards. Jisiah Ybarra, who rushed for 51 yards on six carries, added a 5-yard scoring run that capped Fremont’s third quarter explosion.
Even the Firebird defense got in on the scoring act when Sam Sanchez returned an interception 40 yards for a TD, one of five turnovers Fremont forced. Sam Kanongataa, Eric Ozborn, Sanchez and Ybarra each recovered Los Altos fumbles.
Fremont received other strong defensive performances from Jessy Lopez (6 tackles, including four solo stops), Saul Scher (4 tackles) and Kahileigh Creamer (4 tackles).
Fremont risks its perfect record Friday night at home against the Mountain View Spartans, who are just a half-game behind the Firebirds at 2-0 (5-1 overall), while Los Altos tackles Cupertino (1-2, 4-2) Saturday at home at 1:30 p.m.
Mustangs win
Homestead also remained just a half game behind the Firebirds last week by virtue of a 54-14 pounding of winless Lynbrook (0-6).
The contest was never in question after the Mustangs (2-0 in league, 4-2 overall) erupted for 33 unanswered points in the first quarter on the way to a commanding 47-0 halftime lead.
Linebacker Devaun Crittle highlighted Homestead’s first half outburst by scoring a pair of touchdowns on a 12-yard fumble return and a 22 yard pick-six. The talented junior added a second interception later in the game and racked up five tackles, including a QB sack.
Quarterback Jerome Holloway started the Mustang scoring with a 61-yard run on the Mustangs’ first possession, and later tossed a pair of touchdown passes to brothers Joseph and Dominic Faria. Holloway made the most of just seven pass attempts in the game, completing three for 98 yards, an average of 32.7 yards per completion.
A total of eight different Mustangs carried the ball, combining for 200 yards on the ground. Sebastian Knoefel led the way with 60 yards on just two carries, including a 53-yard TD dash. Ryan Allemandi toted the ball six times for 43 yards, capping Homestead’s first half scoring splurge with a 7-yard touchdown romp.
Lynbrook’s lone bright moments in an otherwise dreary night were provided by Jeffrey Wallis, who scored on a 15-yard third quarter run, and Jonathan Chang, who hauled in a 38-yard scoring toss from quarterback Tony Roberts in the fourth.
Homestead seeks to maintain its perfect league record Friday night at home against the winless Gunn Titans (0-2, 0-6) while Lynbrook (0-3, 0-6) will be in search of its first victory of the season that night when the Vikes visit Santa Clara (0-3, 1-5) in a non-league affair. Both games are slated to start at 7 p.m.
‘Tino tops Gunn
The Cupertino Pioneers notched their first El Camino League win of the year last Friday, edging Gunn 14-6 at home.
Down 6-0 after the first quarter, the Pioneers took a 7-6 halftime lead on Anthony Pozzetti’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Avvakumov, followed by Marcos Anton’s extra point kick.
Cupertino didn’t seal the win until late in the final quarter when a fourth-and-two sneak for a first down by Pozzetti set up a game-clinching 27-yard touchdown run by C.J. Pumphrey.
Mats fall to Paly
In the De Anza Division of the SCVAL, Monta Vista fell to 0-3 after a late rally fell short in a 41-35 setback at the hands of Palo Alto.
The Matadors got off to a sensational start when Max McCann returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. But Palo Alto retaliated with 27 unanswered points to take a commanding 27-7 lead midway through the third period.
The Matadors cut Palo Alto’s lead to just six points, 27-21, late the third stanza, however, on the strength of McCann TD bolts of eight and 48 yards.
Unfortunately for the Mats, they could never get any closer as the two teams traded scores twice over the remainder of the game. The Mats’ came on Joseph Kim’s 8-yard scoring romp.
Monta Vista was still down just six points when it got the ball back a short while later, but Palo Alto’s Justin Hull returned an interception 40 yards for what proved to be the game-deciding TD.
A 5-yard TD run by Golan Gingold and Amir Bashti’s fifth successful PAT kick gave Monta Vista late hope, but an ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Vikings, enabling them to salt away the game’s final minute.
The Matadors travel Friday for a 7 p.m. game at Sarratoga (1-2, 2-4).
King’s rolls
After a 4-1 pre-season, King’s Academy opened its Peninsula-Lake League campaign with a convincing 42-0 pounding of El Camino.
The Knights rolled up an impressive 447 yards of total offense, 309 of which came via a relentless ground attack.
Maurice Washington spearheaded the Knights’ running game with 132 yards on just 12 carries, including touchdown runs of 22 and 33 yards. He also hauled in a 9-yard touchdown pass from Dominic Sabel.
Emilio Gallegos carried the ball just twice for King’s Academy, but the second carry resulted in a 97-yard touchdown run, capping the Knights’ scoring. Derek Friske’s lone carry of the night ended in a 16-yard jaunt into the end zone, while Jamey Wilson bulled his way to paydirt from a yard out on his only rush attempt.
Brian Field punctuated all six Knight touchdowns with extra point kicks.
Quarterback sacks by Maereg Kiros, Dakota Bott, Cole Elpel, Miika Smith and Fidel Nunez highlighted the Knights’ strong defensive effort. Nunez had a team-high nine tackles in all, while Colin Mai recorded six and Jaret Falkowski and Friske added five apiece.
King’s Academy travels to Millbrainst Mills (0-1, 4-2).
