A year ago Fremont was a member of Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s “A” division, but no match for “C” level squad Monta Vista. The Matadors ran away with their non-league football game by 34 points.
On Sept. 12, with roles reversed, they renewed their rivalry at Diesner Field in Sunnyvale. Monta Vista, after winning the El Camino championship in 2013, came in as the “A” team, while Fremont, dropped from the De Anza Division after going 2-8, had a “C” on its chest.
And once again, the top-tiered team was outclassed. Monta Vista scored first, but Fremont put up 21 points in the second quarter and held on for a 35-14 victory, avenging last season’s loss.
Looking unlike a quarterback playing just his second varsity game, sophomore Phillip Tran amassed 348 yards of total offense (236 passing, 112 rushing) and three touchdowns.
Looking like the all-league running back that he was last season, senior Devante Sanchez carried the ball 18 times for 102 yards and two short TDs.
Together, Tran and Sanchez accounted for 450 of their team’s 489 offensive yards.
Now 2-0, Fremont will have a week off, before traveling to San Mateo County for a Sept. 26 meeting with Woodside. If the Firebirds win that one, they will have their best start since the 1997 squad opened up 4-0 before taking a loss.
Monta Vista, 1-1 after two road games, will play its home opener against Westmont (1-0) on Sept. 19, 7 p.m. The Warriors won their opener last week, 26-0 over Leigh.
Both teams threatened to score in the first quarter, but neither team did.
Monta Vista senior Sam Nastari romped to a 30-yard touchdown and senior Amir Bashti kicked the extra point for a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Three plays after the kickoff, Fremont answered, Tran and senior receiver Austin Smith connecting on a 47-yard scoring pass. Sophomore Christian Barrios booted the first of his three PAT kicks to make it 7-7.
Fremont regained possession moments later with the first of its four interceptions at the Matadors’ 35-yard line. Tran broke loose on the first play and raced all the way to the end zone. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder added a two-point conversion run to make it 15-7.
Fremont added one more score–a 1-yard run by Sanchez–just before halftime. The PAT kick failed, leaving it 21-7 at halftime.
Monta Vista cut the margin to 21-14 the first time it got the ball in the second half, but the Matadors were unable to score again.
Later in the period, Sanchez barreled into the end zone for his second short TD, after a 31-yard pass from Tran to junior Alejandro Morales put the Firebirds deep into Matadors territory.
In the fourth quarter the only score was on a Tran-to-Jordan Hendy pass of 20 yards.
Tran completed 15 of 23 passes, connecting with six different receivers. Hendy and senior Michael Valles were Tran’s main targets, each catching four passes. Hendy totaled 85 yards and Valles 32. Morales caught three balls for 43 yards, Smith grabbed two for 56 yards, Sam Sanchez had one catch for 11 yards and Sam Kanongataa had one for 9.
The only other ball carrier besides Tran and D. Sanchez was Jisiah Garcia, who rushed five times for 39 yards.
‘Tino combo clicks
When Cupertino’s Pozzetti-to-Avvakumovits connection is working, the Pioneers’ offense is tough to stop. James Lick learned that last week, as Cupertino improved to 2-0 with a 28-14 win over the visiting Comets.
Junior quarterback Anthony Pozzetti and senior wide receiver Kyle Avvakumovits connected eight times for 187 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and a 53-yard aerial that put the ball at the Lick 1, setting up one of two short scoring romps by senior running back Edison Hernandez.
Cupertino led 14-6 at halftime and added seven points to the lead on a 4-yard score by Hernandez and the third of four Marcos Anton PAT kicks. Throughout the period Avvakumovits grabbed several third-down throws from Pozzetti to keep the chains moving and the clock rolling.
Lick pulled to within 21-14 early in the fourth quarter, following an interception at the ‘Tino 40. Another interception gave the Comets hope later in the period, but the Pioneers used a key defensive play to turn back the threat and spark the final TD drive.
On a fourth-and-13 from their 37, the Comets faked a punt, hoping to gain a first down, but the Cupertino defense stopped them inches shy of the line to gain and reclaimed possession at about midfield.
The Pioneers chewed up some clock with their final scoring drive, Pozzetti handing the ball primarily to Hernandez, who finished with 96 yards on the ground, before taking the ball himself for the final yard and TD.
Pozzetti finished with 18 yards rushing and 196 passing, all but nine yards coming via throws to Avvakumovits, who also sparkled on kick and punt returns and finished with 346 all-purpose yards. The speedy, 5-foot-11 senior set the tone on the opening kickoff, catching the ball at the 9 and running it back 56 yards to the Lick 35.
Junior Brenden Cote and senior Morgan Saenz were key defensive players for Cupertino. Cote delivered two QB sacks near the end of the first half, helping the Pioneers maintain their lead.
Cupertino will have a week away from competition before going for its 12th non-league victory in a row at Overfelt (1-1) on Sept. 26.
Mustangs fall
Homestead led its home opener 21-20 at halftime, but could not keep pace with Piedmont Hills in the second half and lost 41-21.
The Mustangs dropped to 1-1, despite first-half touchdown passes from quarterback Jerome Holloway to junior Dominic Faria for 30 yards and senior Ryan Allemandi for 20.
Holloway finished with 118 yards passing and 90 rushing, but Homestead had a hard time handling the dynamic QB duo of the visiting Pirates, senior Aaron Tillak and junior Marcus Romero, who combined for 178 rushing yards and 171 passing.
The quarterback tandem accounted for all six Piedmont Hills TDs, three through the air and three on the ground, including Tillak’s 82-yard romp on the second play of the third quarter.
After putting the ball in the end zone three times in the first half, Homestead was shut out in the third and fourth quarters by the Pirates (1-0), although a couple of apparent touchdowns were called back because of penalties.
Holloway finished 5-for-11 for 118 yards. Dominic Faria caught three balls for 48 yards, while seniors Preston Heen (41 yards), Allemandi (20) and John Rak (9) caught one each.
The rushing leaders were Holloway, who ran 18 times for 90 yards, junior Kylend Howard (5 for 48 yards, TD) and Sebastian Knoefel (10 for 41).
On defense, senior linebacker Zechariah Asselin led the way with 10 tackles and junior linebacker Devaun Crittle had eight. Senior Sergio Landaverde and junior Teddy Tefera each seven tackles apiece.
Homestead will travel to Belmont on Sept. 19, 7 p.m., to meet the Carlmont Scots, who are 2-0 with wins over Yerba Buena 47-0 and Gunn 24-19.
Vikes, Panthers collide
Two hungry teams will collide at Lynbrook on Sept. 19, 7 p.m., when the Vikings and Prospect try to break into the win column for the first time this season.
After a couple of big losses, including last Saturday afternoon’s 47-9 defeat at San Mateo, Lynbrook will take an 0-2 record into the contest. Prospect enters at 0-1, after bowing to Cupertino 32-14 on Sept. 5.
Lynbrook had a tough time handling San Mateo’s powerful running attack. The Bearcats, who passed just twice in the game, tore up the turf for 443 yards and seven touchdowns.
Lynbrook trailed 33-0 at halftime, before scoring all nine of its points in the third quarter on a safety, touchdown and extra point. San Mateo added touchdowns in each of the final two quarters.
The Vikings hope to control the ball offensively, as they did in some of the opener against Mt. Pleasant, when they return home to play Prospect.
In the game against the Cardinals, Lynbrook had a balanced attack with 37 running plays and 32 passes.
Sophomore running back Jeff Wallis fared well in his varsity debut, rushing 27 times for 178 yards and one touchdown. Meanwhile, senior quarterback Tony Roberts completed 14 of 32 passes for 127 yards and ran the ball eight times for 32 yards. Roberts’ top target in the opener was senior Jonathan Cheng, who had nine catches for 84 yards.
Sophomore Tyler Garnica and seniors Gavin Dersh-Fisher and Osman Ho led the defense with five tackles each. Junior Kenneth Wang, who tackled an MP runner for a safety, and Cheng both had four.
