St. Francis, motivated by ranking, shuts out visiting Los Gatos 24-0

By Pete Borello, Town Crier Staff Writer

R. Alan Hwang/Special to the Town Crier St. Francis High’s Robert Enquist runs toward the end zone in Friday’s game against Los Gatos. The Lancers went on to win 24-0, and Enquist rushed for a team-high 84 yards.

Rankled by their ranking, the St. Francis High Lancers had extra motivation for Friday’s non-league football game against visiting Los Gatos.

“We saw they were ranked ahead of us,” said fullback/team captain Scott Zipse, referring to a daily newspaper that ranked Los Gatos third and St. Francis sixth. “We took it as fuel for our fire.”

The fired-up Lancers came away with a 24-0 win that should boost their ranking this week.

Although out-gained by more than 100 yards (307 to 189), St. Francis held the advantage in perhaps the most important football stat: turnovers. The Wildcats had five turnovers, the Lancers three.

Los Gatos clearly missed head coach Butch Cattolico, home with flu-like symptoms, who calls all the offensive plays and has 200 wins in his 20 years at the helm.

Every time the Wildcats put a nice drive together, it ended in an interception. Andrew Gomez threw five interceptions, three resulting in points for St. Francis.

“Our defense was solid,” Zipse said. “I think it’s one of the strongest parts of our team.”

The Lancers came up with interceptions on three consecutive Los Gatos possessions in the second quarter. Cornerback Robert Enquist picked off the first one at the goal line and raced 99 yards along the left sideline for a touchdown. Michael Calcagno’s extra point pushed the Lancers’ lead to 14-0 with 6:52 left in the half.

On the next play from scrimmage, Gomez hit St. Francis safety David Calcagno in the numbers on a deep throw in the middle of the field. Calcagno returned the ball to the Wildcats’ 9-yard line, setting up another score. On first down, Lancers quarterback Ryan Van Amburg crossed the goal line on a keeper to the right.

Los Gatos didn’t fold, though, driving just inside the St. Francis 25 on its next possession. But the Wildcats would get no closer, as cornerback Preston Marguet intercepted Gomez’s pass in the end zone and ran it back 25 yards.

St. Francis (2-0-1) opened the second half with a drive that went from good to bad. Starting from their own 33, the Lancers moved to Los Gatos’ 15 behind the running of Enquist and Van Amburg. But Van Amburg injured his shoulder getting tackled on the last of these runs. He left the game for good, though St. Francis is optimistic he will be able to play in Friday’s game at St. Mary’s of Stockton.

On the next play, the Lancers fumbled away the ball on a pitch from backup quarterback Sam Scudellari to halfback Enquist.

The Wildcats (1-1) gave the ball right back, however, as defensive end Rhett Ellison snagged a Gomez pass at midfield.

St. Francis extended its lead in the fourth quarter on Michael Calcagno’s 37-yard field goal.

The Lancers finished with 182 yards rushing, 84 from Enquist. Van Amburg totaled 70 yards on the ground, 37 on a touchdown on St. Francis’ opening drive.

Spartans stumble at end

A 14-point lead with just more than five minutes left wasn’t enough for host Mountain View High, which saw Menlo School rally for a 45-42 win Saturday

The Spartans (1-1) led 42-28 with 5:20 left. The Knights soon scored to cut that lead in half, then recovered an onside kick that led to a game-tying touchdown. Menlo won it with a 30-yard field goal in the waning seconds.

“It was a bad, bad game for all of us,” coach Dan Navarro said.

Brandon Hamilton rushed for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns for Mountain View.