Sep 2, 2008

SCVAL PREVIEW: Palo Alto among De Anza hopefuls chasing Los Gatos

By Gordon Kass / Daily News Correspondent

After seven straight titles, Los Gatos lost the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza crown in 2006 to Palo Alto. Last year, Los Gatos grabbed it back. Have the Wildcats re-established themselves as the De Anza kings? Los Gatos graduated three big difference makers in RB/LB Nick Kalpin, LB/TE Kiko Alonso and OL/DL Karl Winkelman, but will that cost them? QB Nick Hirschman, a part-time starter last year, and RB Chris LaBouff, last year's fullback, will lead the attack while the defense is stout as always.

"You have to go with Gatos until someone consistently beats them," Wilcox coach Woody Freitas said. "They reload, they don't rebuild. A lot of starters play just one year (illustrating depth to recover from graduation). Paly's strong and big across the board. Milpitas is always very skilled. We're pretty young, but we've been the closest to them (Los Gatos) with like four wins in the last 10 to 12 years."

Palo Alto is ready to claim its ascendance. The Vikings followed up a 2005 tri-championship (with Los Gatos and Wilcox) with their magical 2006 season that included a blowout of Los Gatos, a CCS Open School Division title and an appearance in the CIF Division II state title game. Although they lost to Los Gatos last year, Paly rebounded to win the 2007 Large School Division championship. QB Will Brandin returns to guide the offense, but the Vikings will also have to overcome graduation losses.

If both leave the door open a crack, Milpitas, Wilcox and Mountain View are ready to step through. The Trojans, led by two of the league's best in linebacker Steven Fanua and receiver Chris Albright, have talent, speed and beef on both sides of the ball. The Chargers have a nice mix of returnees, depth and talent and Freitas' teams are always ready to smash heads with anyone. The Spartans are young, but Dan Navarro's solid program always produces competitive squads.



LOS GATOS WILDCATS

Last year: 10-1-1, 6-0 league (first place); won first-round CCS Open School Division playoff game 20-14 over Palma, lost second-round CCS playoff game 40-34 to Gilroy

Coach: Butch Cattolico (23rd year)

Key returners: QB Nick Hirschman, OL/DL Spencer Havens, FB Chris LaBouff

Key losses: RB/LB Nick Kalpin, LB/TE Kiko Alonso, OL/DL Karl Winkelman

Potential surprise: OL/DL Jordan Dombrowsky

Expectations: 'Cats will miss Kalpin, who took his 2,553 yards (8.18 yards per carry, 11 of 12 games with 166 or more yards) to Portland State. The physical LaBouff takes over at tailback, the key position in Cattolico's offense. Hirschman split time with Andrew Gomez last year and the 6-foot-4 junior will use that experience to provide a solid aerial threat. In last Friday's intrasquad scrimmage, he completed 14-of-21 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns.

Alonso (now at Oregon) and Winkelman (now at Cal Poly) will be sorely missed on defense, but LaBouff and the experienced Hamilton Fairburn will man the key interior linebacker slots. Havens and Dombrowsky anchor a solid defensive line that the modest Cattolico calls "rock solid."

Season opener: Sept. 12 vs. Aragon, 7:30 p.m.

Key date: Nov. 14 vs. Palo Alto, 7:30 p.m.



PALO ALTO VIKINGS

Last year: 11-2, 5-1 league (second place); won first-round CCS Large School Division playoff game 38-0 over El Camino, won second-round CCS playoff game 7-0 over North Salinas, won CCS title game 14-7 over Menlo-Atherton

Coach: Earl Hansen (21st year)

Key returners: QB Will Brandin, DB/WR Will Holder, OL Troy Boyland

Key losses: WR/DB Mike Scott, LB/RB James McCollough, RB Sione Mataele

Potential surprise: RB Sam Tompkins

Expectations: The Vikings are solid and experienced in key places. "The defensive line and the offensive line are good, and the quarterback's gonna be good," Hansen said. Brandin is the league's top quarterback, as shown by last year's numbers that included a 57.4 percent completion percentage and 1,565 passing yards with nine touchdowns.

Holder, who preserved a 28-21 win over Mountain View with a late-game interception on his own 10-yard line, returns as a force in the secondary and part of a solid receiving corps that also includes Harry Woolson and tight end Steven Gargiulo. Paly will miss its spectacular linebacking trio of McCollough, Jordan Jefferson and Donnie Salas, but Malcom Bailey shined when Salas was injured and only one member of the secondary graduated.

Season opener: Sept. 12 at Burlingame, 7 p.m.

Key date: Nov. 14 at Los Gatos, 7:30 p.m.



MILPITAS TROJANS

Last year: 5-6, 4-2 league (third place); lost first-round CCS Large School Division playoff game 30-20 to North Salinas

Coach: Kelly King (18th year)

Key returners: LB Steven Fanua, WR Chris Albright, QB Cameron Hernandez

Key losses: RB Havelock Pomele, WR Charles Satchell, LB Nick Van Damme

Potential surprise: RB Ben Pomele

Expectations: A tough non-conference schedule made last year's record look bad, but that included respectable defeats (e.g. 28-26 loss to Mitty) and the Trojans gave champ Los Gatos its toughest game of league play in a 37-20 loss after trailing just 10-6 at halftime.

Milpitas returns the best player in the league in LB Steven Fanua (393 tackles and 23 sacks the last two years) and perhaps the top receiver in WR Chris Albright (38 catches for 761 yards and four touchdowns).

"We'll play fast and we've got a chance to be pretty good," King said. "We have a lot of kids coming back, but we're still a bit young."

The Trojans love a strong ground game and thus much of their fortune hinges on how well junior Ben Pomele steps into the shoes of his older brother Havelock Pomele, who racked up 882 yards last season.

Season opener: Friday vs. San Benito, 7:30 p.m.

Key dates: Oct. 3 at Wilcox, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 10 at Los Gatos, 7:30 p.m.



WILCOX CHARGERS

Last year: 4-5-1, 2-3-1 league (fourth place)

Coach: Woody Freitas (11th year)

Key returners: QB Cory Murphy, RB/LB Anthony Pohahau, OL Andre Reed

Key losses: RB Patrick Mitchell, WR Kyle Barraclough, OL/LB Matt Turituri

Potential surprise: WR Jarod Lucas

Expectations: The Chargers were competitive most of the season, losing only 21-12 to Paly, but struggled near the end, falling hard to Los Gatos 42-7 and Milpitas 33-7. Wilcox is usually strong physically on defense and opportunistic on offense, and that will be the formula again.

Graduation losses could be hard to overcome. Mitchell rambled for 718 yards and Barraclough had 37 receptions with no other receiver pulling in more than five (but Lucas, who sat out last year, is the top candidate to step in). Murphy returns, but he'll need to improve on his 38.2 percent completion percentage.

"We have a strong quarterback," Freitas said. "Cory split time last year and he had a good spring and summer. Anthony led our team in tackles last year. Our offensive line is seasoned, but we're still pretty young overall."

"Wilcox is much improved," Paly's Hansen said. "They are returning guys and they have speed coming up from the frosh-soph."

The Chargers will have to grow up in a hurry. They open league play against Milpitas and follow with Los Gatos and Palo Alto.

Season opener: Sept. 12 at Terra Nova, 8 p.m.

Key date: Friday Oct. 3 vs. Milpitas, 7:30 p.m.



n MOUNTAIN VIEW SPARTANS

Last year: 4-5-1, 2-3-1 league (fourth place)

Coach: Dan Navarro (26th year)

Key returners: LB/FB Alfonzo Brister, LB Andrew Cooney, TE/LB Brandon Farley

Key losses: QB Jeffery Jalaba, RB/LB Shane Cooney, WR Trevor Campbell

Potential surprise: RB Jared Torrecampo

Expectations: Hindered by a thin bench and few big bodies, Navarro nevertheless always finds a way to be competitive. Entering last season's finale against Los Gatos, the Spartans were 2-2-1 in league play, though an extra touchdown in three games would have made them 5-0 (they tied Wilcox 16-16, lost to Paly 28-21 and fell to Milpitas 20-14). This year, graduation losses will make the battle even harder.

"We're basically going to be a young team," Navarro said. "We have a lot of sophomores and juniors that will play. We have a sophomore quarterback in Justin Hand, a sophomore wide receiver in Brett Hughes and a sophomore fullback in Christian Pak. Our offensive line and linebackers are more experienced."

Mountain View's attack will lean to the run with junior Torrecampo. If Hand gets a hold of the system, look for Navarro to mix in more of an aerial game. Brister, Cooney, Farley, FS Neerav Dixit, LB Lewis Hernandez and DE Ryan Mcgruder are other key leaders.

Season opener: Sept. 12 vs. Fremont, 3:15 p.m.

Key date: Oct. 17 at Milpitas, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 1 at Wilcox, 7:30 p.m.



LOS ALTOS EAGLES

Last year: 5-5, 1-5 league (fifth place)

Coach: Bill Waggoner (1st year)

Key returners: WR/CB Roy Abousamra, WR/CB Scott Abramo, LB/WR Daniel Son-bell

Key losses: QB Daniel Young, RB Justin Arcune, WR Kenneth Peterman

Potential surprise: RB/LB Mike Lopez

Expectations: After a 3-0 pre-league mark, the Eagles launched De Anza play on the wrong foot with a 19-17 loss against rival Mountain View. Then they saw what the De Anza is all about: physical and tough, week after week. The Eagles faced the top four and lost all, by an average margin of 52-16. The offense was OK, but the defense could not shut anyone down.

Eagle alum Waggoner is the new coach and he has been greeted with a host of graduation losses. Los Altos will miss Young, who completed 169-of-262 passes for a 64.5 completion percentage and connected for 18 touchdowns while yielding just seven interceptions. Tim Vanneman will step into his shoes and Lopez will try to replace Arcune's 638 rushing yards.

"We threw the ball more last year," Waggoner said. "We will probably run the ball more this year. We are pretty young and inexperienced. Only about four guys have starting varsity experience. And we're not a real big squad. We can be competitive in non-league, but league is very difficult. We're working on bringing back tradition and being a consistent and solid program. It will probably take a few years. There has been a lot of turnover and you can't build a program that way."

Season opener: Sept. 12 at Evergreen Valley, 7 p.m.

Key date: Oct. 11 vs. Palo Alto, 1:30 p.m.



SARATOGA FALCONS

Last year: 7-4, 5-1 league (first place, El Camino), won first-round CCS Medium School Division playoff game 14-7 over Monterey, lost second-round CCS playoff game 17-14 to Live Oak

Coach: Tim Lugo (1st year)

Key returners: RB Mat Spencer, CB/RB Tim Yen, DL Jasper Loren

Key losses: LB/OL Zack Kowitz, LB/FB Gabe Essner, WR/CB Keon Ghafouri

Potential surprise: FB/LB Casey Farmer

Expectations: Kurt Heinrich coached 'Toga to the El Camino title and a playoff run, but was let go as the school wanted an on-campus coach. Lugo comes over from Pioneer and will need to get his players' helmets buckled on fast in the hard-knockin' De Anza. Traditionally, Saratoga had excelled in the El Camino with a speed-based triple-option attack, but struggled in the De Anza due to its physical nature.

"We'll go back to the Wing-T offense," Lugo said. "We're a little young on the offensive line, but we'll be OK. Our QB Michael Guercio shared time last year and we have six kids who could be carrying the ball. The defense was hit hard by graduation."

Loren, MLB Derek Emerson and Yen return for that unit but the Falcons, with just 29 total players, may be overmatched by the De Anza battles.

"This league's pretty brutal, but we'll try to be competitive and compete all the time," Lugo said.

Season opener: Saturday at Menlo-Atherton, 2 p.m.

Key date: Oct. 10 at Mountain View, 3:15 p.m.