Sports Editor
Los Gatos Boys Varsity Football is heading straight into week nine of their season with a record of 5-2. In week six, the Wildcats lost 27-37 to Pittsburg, but came back with a win over Sacred Heart Prep 37-7 in week seven. On Oct. 13, the Wildcats crushed Mountain View 55-2.
Although the Wildcats fell to Pittsburg, there was no lack of effort. Senior and quarterback AJ Minyard threw passes for completed catches over 262 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Jaylen Thomas and junior Owen Panu each caught a touchdown pass from Minyard. Overall, the team kept up with Pittsburg, slipping behind by one touchdown. Head coach Mark Krail spoke to the Mercury News about their loss to Pittsburgh and Grant (in Sept.), commenting, “I told our guys, every goal we’ve set for our team — win a league championship, win a section championship, get to a NorCal game — those are right on the table for us. These two games are going to make us better than playing teams we beat handily.”
The squad’s week seven game against Sacred Heart Prep (SHP) began with an exciting guest appearance: Sourdough Sam, the 49ers mascot. Sam posed for photos with the team and tolerated the bombardment of photos from the student section. The Wildcats led all four quarters, with at least one touchdown in each. In the first quarter, Minyard threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Thomas to establish the Wildcat’s lead. At the half, Los Gatos led 14-7, but extended their lead with 23 unanswered points in the second half. Senior Scott Garwood and junior Henry Masters contributed ten tackles each to the Wildcat victory. Senior Boxer Kopcsak-Yeung had an impressive night, with four touchdowns and 164 rushing yards. One of which was a 73-yard run.
Following the SHP game, Kopcsak-Yeung won Bay Area News Group Athlete of the Week, with 34.5% of all votes. His rushing yards over 17 carries contributed to this recognition, along with two catches for 13 yards. So far this season, Kopscak-Yeung has averaged 106.2 rushing yards per game, an average of 7.1 yards per carry, with a total of 14 touchdowns.
In their second league game this season, Los Gatos dominated Mountain View 55-2. Minyard threw touchdown passes to Thomas and Kopcsak-Yeung to start the scoring. Junior Jay Mallugari blocked a punt return, which sophomore Max Thomas then returned 8 yards to the end zone for another Wildcat touchdown. Senior Shane Timmons, senior Scott Garwood, and junior Kayden Bakhtiari added rushing touchdowns to build a 41-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, junior Zane Frey and sophomore Andrew Sandoval added rushing touchdowns. In the fourth quarter, Mountain View put their only points up with a safety. Overall, eight different players scored touchdowns against Mountain View to contribute to the final score of 55-2, the greatest lead held by Los Gatos this season.
The next two games for the Wildcats are away at Burlingame on Oct. 19, and at Wilcox on Oct. 27. So, rest up, and come out to join the crowds cheering for the Wildcats in their game against Menlo Atherton on Nov. 11.
(Sources: MaxPreps, Mercury News)
Categories: School Sports, Sports