Eagles grounded by rival Mtn. View
By Pete Borello, Town Crier Staff Writer
 photos by Joe Hu/Town Crier Los Altos High’s Danny Young gets the ball away as Mountain View’s Nikolai Lemak, left, and Shane Cooney close in on him. |
Reality bit the Los Altos High football team Friday night.
After fattening their record on three feeble foes, the Eagles faced a formidable team in Mountain View High - and lost 21-7.
“This is definitely a wake-up call for us,” Los Altos coach Jeff Kalb said after the non-league game at Foothill College. “They put us in a position we weren’t comfortable with and haven’t been through a lot.”
Which is exactly what the rival Spartans had planned to do.
“We wanted to establish that we’re an A division team and we’re going to be physical,” said Mountain View coach Dan Navarro, whose squad delivered several helmet-rattling hits. “And we wanted to score first because they hadn’t been scored upon.”
Actually, the Eagles had allowed a field goal this season. But even Kalb admitted that Los Altos’ dominant start - the squad outscored its first three opponents by a combined 104-3 - “was misleading because we didn’t face any explosive offenses.”
That changed Friday.
The Eagles faced perhaps the best running back they will see all season: Brandon Hamilton. The Mountain View senior scored two touchdowns and ran for 104 yards on 22 carries.
“I’ve got to give it to the line,” the soft-spoken Hamilton said. “They did a nice job blocking.”
Hamilton’s first score came on the opening drive of the game. On the third play from scrimmage, he turned Jeff Jalaba’s 5-yard screen pass into a 52-yard touchdown.
Los Altos fumbled away its initial possession, the first of the team’s four turnovers, on the snap to quarterback Danny Young.
Despite starting at the Eagles’ 29-yard line, the Spartans couldn’t capitalize on the miscue. They got as far as the 2, then had to settle for a field-goal try after Los Altos defensive end Yousef Saadeh sacked Jalaba for an 8-yard loss. Michael Francisco’s 32-yard attempt sailed wide left.
A three-and-out series and poor punt by the Eagles put Mountain View (3-1) right back in business. Starting from the Los Altos 35, the Spartans scored in five plays, with Jalaba following his blockers across the goal line on a 2-yard keeper. Mountain View went for two after having its extra-point try blocked earlier and converted when Jalaba found Hamilton open in the left flat. This put the Spartans up 14-0 with 1:34 left in the opening quarter.
The Eagles’ next two possessions ended in disappointment: a leaping Leshawn James intercepted a Young pass and Kevin Serviss just missed a 27-yard field-goal try before halftime.
It didn’t get better for Los Altos at the start of the second half. Darrell Archie fumbled the kick-off, and the Spartans recovered at the Eagles’ 10.
After losing a yard on first down, Hamilton fought his way into the end zone on an 11-yard run the next play. Francisco’s kick pushed the lead to 21-0 with 11:05 remaining in the third.
Los Altos’ next drive ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down, but it soon got the ball back on Kenneth Peterman’s interception of an overthrow by Jalaba.
Starting from their own 12, the Eagles put together their best drive of the evening. Los Altos marched 88 yards in 11 plays to get on the scoreboard. The series featured a 31-yard pass from Young to Archie and a 17-yard run by halfback Jamar Watson, who followed that with a 9-yard touchdown on a screen pass. Serviss’ extra point closed the gap to 21-7 with 11:34 left to play.
The Spartans committed their third and final turnover three plays later when a scrambling Jalaba fumbled at his 29.
“That made me nervous; I thought the momentum was changing,” said Navarro, whose team turned the ball over five times in last year’s lopsided loss to Los Altos. “But then we stopped them defensively.”
On fourth-and-nine from the 16, safety James snuffed out a screen pass to Archie, whom he dropped for a 2-yard loss.
Mountain View worked the clock down to 1:51 before punting, but was back on offense seconds later after Hamilton intercepted Young on first down.
The Eagles will try to rebound in Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. homecoming game/league opener against Saratoga (4-0), which could ultimately decide the SCVAL El Camino Division champion.
Mountain View visits Santa Clara at 3:15 p.m. Friday to open SCVAL De Anza Division play.
Mitty stuns St. Francis
The Lancers (3-1-1 overall) trailed 14-0 after the first quarter. They rallied to tie the game at 14, as Sam Scudellari followed his 1-yard keeper in the second quarter with a 29-yard pass to Rhett Ellison late in the third.
Mitty (5-0) recaptured the lead on the next play from scrimmage, with Thomas Reynolds running the ball in from 62 yards. He added a 40-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
