By Craig Wentz

Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier

With a 7-0 lead and heading for an apparent insurance touchdown midway through the third quarter, the Los Altos High football team had to feel good about its chances of winning Friday’s season opener at Gunn.

It took only one play, however, to dramatically alter the complexion of the game.

After marching 50 yards on the ground on its first possession of the second half, the Eagles attempted a third-down pass that proved costly. Thomas Roux’s short toss at Gunn’s 20-yard line was picked off by Titans’ linebacker Matt Clendenin and returned 51 yards, opening the floodgates for what resulted in a 21-7 Gunn victory.

It was the first of three Los Altos turnovers the inexperienced Titans capitalized on to win the non-league contest, the debut of coach Don Briggs, who in 1971 played quarterback on Gunn’s only undefeated team.

Los Altos and Gunn both lost a ton of talent from a season ago and it was anyone’s guess what would transpire on Friday.

Gunn (1-0), which returned only three starters from last season’s SCVAL El Camino Division tri-championship team, struggled offensively until Clendenin’s interception.

After the turnover, the Titans utilized the athleticism of halfback Joe Lawrence, who scored on a 25-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7 with 4:07 left in the third quarter.

Gunn defensive tackle Matt Alcorn later recovered a Los Altos fumble which set up Lawrence’s 20-yard scoring run for a 14-7 lead late in the third.

The Titans sealed the game with 9:07 remaining in the contest when junior cornerback Phil Ghilarducci hijacked a Roux pass and raced 65 yards down the sideline for the game’s final touchdown.

Los Altos dominated time of possession and did a stellar job of advancing the ball via the running game behind running backs Marcus Boone and Royce Hurd.

Gunn, Los Altos and Santa Clara shared the SCVAL El Camino Division crown a season ago. This year Gunn and Santa Clara play in the upper De Anza Division, with Los Altos staying in the El Camino Division.

Lawrence, who last played football in his freshman year, rushed for 150 yards.

Clendenin registered a pair of sacks in addition to his crucial interception.

Los Altos tallied its first points of the season with 1:40 remaining in the first half on a 9-yard scoring run by Boone.

Boone’s run was set up by a brilliant punt return by Hurd.

Los Altos will try to garner its first victory of the season at 7:30 p.m., Friday, at Independence (1-0) in a non-league contest.

Gunn will seek to remain perfect at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, in a non-league game at Cupertino (0-1) that was originally scheduled for Friday night.