Sophomore Rajah Ward’s debut as a member of the Homestead varsity football team was nothing if not spectacular last Friday night.
In just eight carries, Ward ripped off 141 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns, leading a Mustang ground attack that accumulated 436 yards en route to a 42-0 dismantling of the Cupertino Pioneers at Homestead.
The victory, which came in the Mustangs’ Santa Clara Valley Athletic League El Camino Division opener, lifted Homestead’s overall record to 3-2. Cupertino, meanwhile, fell to 0-2 in league play and 3-2 overall.
Homestead visits the winless Lynbrook Vikings (0-2, 0-5) Friday at 7 p.m., while Cupertino travels to Palo Alto for a 6:30 p.m. test against the Gunn Titans (0-1, 0-5).
It was a 51-yard touchdown dash by Ward in the opening quarter last Friday that broke a scoreless tie and got the Mustangs rolling toward their easy win. He then rambled 82 yards for a second score in the second quarter. John Rak tacked on his second of an eventual six extra point kicks to give Homestead a 14-0 lead.
The Mustangs, who were coming off of a 27-3 loss to powerful Milpitas a week earlier, expanded their lead to 21-0 by halftime, thanks to a 20-yard TD romp by senior Ryan Allemandi, Homestead’s leading rusher on the season.
A trio of juniors each tallied second half touchdowns to complete the Mustang rout. Kylend Howard scored from six yards out in the third quarter for his third TD of the season. Quarterback Jerome Holloway then rambled 83 yards for his third touchdown of the year, and Sebastian Knopfel put the finishing touch to the big Mustang win with a 50-yard bolt to paydirt.
Holloway shared the offensive spotlight with Ward in the win by accounting for 297 yards of total offense, rushing for 168 and passing for another 129.
‘Birds top Vikes
The Fremont Firebirds reeled off their fifth consecutive win of the season last Friday when they trounced Lynbrook 41-7 at home.
Behind the outstanding blocking of Winston Ofa and Afa Prescott, the Firebirds (5-0) rang up 392 yards of total offense, including 285 yards and five TDs on the ground. Senior Devante Sanchez spearheaded the ground assault with 157 yards and two touchdowns, including a 90-yard scoring run. Sophomore Phillip Tran, junior Jordan Hendy and senior Kahileigh Creamer each added solo touchdown runs.
Tran was 8 of 16 through the air for an additional 107 yards. Jordan Hendy pulled in five of Tran’s tosses for 72 yards.
The Fremont defense was led by sophomore Jessy Lopez, who recorded seven tackles, including three solo stops. Oscar Baerga made five tackles and Jisiah Ybarra, Bruce Fua, Saul Scher, Sam Sanchez and Creamer each added four.
King’s wins again
Bolstered by a strong defensive effort, the King’s Academy rolled to its second straight win last Friday night, shutting out Soquel 31-0.
Senior quarterback Dominic Sabel spearheaded the Knights’ offensive attack by completing 7 of 13 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 26.4 yards per completion.
After King’s took a 10-0 lead on a Stephen Donnelly 30-yard field goal and a 4-yard touchdown run by freshman Maurice Washington, Sabel hurled touchdown strikes of 65 yards to Derek Friske, 22 yards to Jamey Wilson and 53 yards to Jordan Duncan.
Friske led the Knight receiving corps with three catches for 89 yards while Wilson caught a pair for 34 yards, in addition to returning a kick for 66 yards.
Colin Mai sparked the stout King’s defensive effort with a team-high nine tackles, including three solo stops. Cole Hansen notched eight tackles. The Knights registered seven sacks of Soquel’s quarterback, two by Miika Smith.
The win pushed King’s Academy’s record to 4-1, just one win shy of their total for all of last season.
The Knights open their Lake Athletic League schedule Friday against El Camino (2-3, 0-1) at El Camino High at 3 p.m.
