September 7, 2006

SPORTS

Pioneer football drops season-opener 31-7 to Mitty

Monarchs capitalize on pair of botched special teams plays
in second half to hand Mustangs a home-opening loss

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

The Pioneer football team had a third quarter to forget as a pair of botched special teams plays helped, at least in part, to give Archbishop Mitty a 31-7 win over the host Mustangs on Sept. 1.

The Pioneer football team salutes the American flag from their sideline before the team's season-opening game against Mitty on Sept. 1. Photos by Jeff Frazee

The season-opening loss for Pioneer was a disappointing way to start the season said Mustangs head coach Mark Krail, who added that special teams play proved to play a big role in his team’s unraveling.

“We played two-and-a-half quarters of pretty doggone good football with a decent football team,” said Krail. “The third quarter got away from us, we had some trouble on special teams, and you know, special teams always have a way of playing a role in the outcome of a game.”

Trailing Mitty 10-7 at the half, Pioneer stayed close before a Mustang punt attempt was blocked by Mitty’s Jeff Sloan, setting the Monarchs up at the Pioneer 34. Six plays later, the Monarchs had a 17-7 lead, following a 12-yard run by Thomas Reynolds with 2:36 left in the third quarter.

Approximately one minute later, the Monarchs found themselves deep in Mustang territory again, the result of a fruitless offensive series by the Mustangs, followed by a botched snap on special teams, on fourth-and-5 at the Pioneer 25. The bad long snap resulted in the ball sailing over punter Russell Marrone’s head, who was promptly tackled at the Pioneer 14 after recovering the ball.

On Mitty’s first play back on offense, Reynolds again received the ball, scampering 14 yards into the end zone with 1:22 left to give the Monarchs a 24-7 lead.

Mitty went on to pad its lead early in the fourth quarter, driving the ball 51 yards on eight plays and ending with a 1-yard touchdown run from Steve Sloan with 8:56 left in the game to go up 31-7.

“Going in 10-7 at the half, we felt pretty good,” Krail said. “We thought we were wearing them down a little bit. Like I said, the third quarter and the special teams, it made the difference.”

Mitty head coach Dave Brown said his team succeeded against Pioneer because of its ability to run the ball, while not making things too complicated for his players. The Monarchs combined to rush for 252 yards and three touchdowns, led by fullback Kenny Jackson, who ran for 74 yards on nine carries in the win for Mitty. Reynolds finished with 69 yards and two touchdowns on six carries.

“When we took a look at them we thought they were very physical and I thought, very solid on both ends of the ball,” said Brown. “We really let like we had to be as basic and fundamental as we could be. Obviously, our deal is trying to run it. We’re both very much the same in terms of offenses.”

Brown cited his team’s need to be disciplined defensively against the Pioneer offense, particularly in defending the Mustangs’ trademark running game. Brown said one of the keys to his team’s success in defending Pioneer was the ability to avoid giving up any large chunks of yardage to Mustang running backs.

Pioneer's Shane Murray leaps to catch a pass in a 31-7 loss to Mitty on Sept. 1.

“I was concerned that they would break one because they like to cut the ball back and our leverage angles would be bad,” Brown said of defending against the Pioneer running game. “We did a good job on that. Guys would hang on, and if they did break one, we had someone coming up, being at the right leverage angle to get to it.”

Despite the loss, Krail still found some positive developments with his team, especially on defense.

“I thought our defense played well. You can’t give them short fields and expect to keep them out of the end zone,” said Krail, referring to the poor field position on defense for the Mustangs, as a result of the sub-par special teams play in the second half.

Likewise, Krail said he was pleased with his team’s running game, which saw starters Steven Lopes, Shane Murray and Nico Pagan combine for 157 yards. Murray, who played a pivotal role on Pioneer’s frosh/soph football team last year, also caught three passes for 56 yards. Lopes scored the team’s lone touchdown, a 26-yard run with 6:06 left in the first quarter to tie the game 7-7.

“I thought all three of our backs ran extremely well,” said Krail. “Pagan, Lopes and Murray all ran the ball hard and physical. I thought our offensive line did a pretty good job as well. …The running game’s fine. That wasn’t the problem.”

Sports Briefs

Save the date: 13th annual Almaden Times Classic will be held Sept. 24
The 13th annual Almaden Times Classic will be held early this year (it’s usually held in October) in an effort to avoid potential scheduling conflicts with the San Jose Half Marathon. The Classic will be held on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 9 a.m. The popular 2-mile/10k run/walk community event benefits the Almaden Valley Counseling Service and it starts and finishes at Leland High School on Camden Avenue.

For more information, visit www.avcounseling.org or call (408) 997 0200. Register at www.Active.com or look for race applications in future issues of the Almaden Times Weekly.

Almaden National Junior Basketball signups
Almaden National Junior Basketball (NJB) signups began Aug. 15. Boys and girls grades one through eight are eligible. The 11-game season starts Dec. 3. For details and signups, go to www.almadennjb.homestead.com or call Ken Keiser (408) 592-4190.

Girls U11 class 3 competitive XTreme team seeks players
The Xtreme, a South San Jose Youth Soccer League girls U11 class 3 competitive soccer team, is looking for two players to join the team. Home fields and practice facilities are in the Blossom Hill/Santa Teresa area, and the team currently practices on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at Stratford School on San Ignacio at San Anselmo. Girls interested in joining the team should be somewhat experienced with a good attitude toward learning the game. Age restrictions are between 8/1/1995 and 7/31/1996. For more information, Contact Nigel Cooper at (408) 202-2058.

Bret Harte Middle School needs a flag football coach
Bret Harte is looking for a coach to lead the after-school flag football team. Responsibilities will include overseeing tryouts, running practices at least twice a week after school, attend games, which are played once a week (usually on Wednesday) in the evening at Hoover High. Coach will also need to be fingerprinted and have a TB test completed through San Jose Unified School District. Bret Harte Booster will reimburse the coach for the expense. The coach will be under the direction of the school Administration and Bret Harte Booster. If interested, call Amy Yorkey at (408) 535-6270 ext. 214.

Almaden United boys’ U-15 soccer team seeks players
The Almaden United boys’ U-15 soccer team is looking for a few new players with serious interest in soccer, for all positions, even goalkeeper. The team is a part of the Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League, Delgado (class 3) competitive league for the fall of 2006. Interested players must be born between Aug. 1, 1991 and July 31, 1992. For more information, contact Kimberly at kiminn@mindspring.com or (408) 206-1198.

High School Sports Schedule

Leland High School
Friday – Football at Pioneer, 5 p.m. frosh/soph and 7:30 p.m. varsity
Friday – Field hockey at Willow Glen Jamboree, time TBA

Saturday – Field hockey at Willow Glen Jamboree, time TBA

Tuesday – Girls’ tennis vs. Live Oak, 3:15 p.m.

Wednesday – Field hockey at Westmont, 3 p.m.

Thursday – Girls’ tennis at Piedmont Hills, 3:15 p.m.
Thursday – Cross country vs. Evergreen and Santa Teresa at Montgomery Hill, 3:30 p.m.

Pioneer High School
Friday – Football vs. Leland, 5 p.m. frosh/soph and 7:30 p.m. varsity

Tuesday – Girls’ tennis at Yerba Buena, 3:15 p.m.

Thursday – Girls’ volleyball vs. Pacific, 4 p.m. JV and 5 p.m. varsity
Thursday – Girls’ tennis vs. Prospect, 3:15 p.m.


For more information about Leland and Pioneer sporting events, go to:

Pioneer Athletics: http://www.phsathletics.com/
Leland Athletics: http://www.lelandathletics.com/
Blossom Valley Athletic League: http://www.bval.org/

Mustangs spiked in hopeful opener

Pioneer’s Coach Ritter encouraged by progress from year ago

By Justin Petersen
Staff Writer

Pioneer girls’ volleyball will focus on fundamentals to improve on last year’s fourth-place finish, despite losing their opening match at home versus Silver Creek Sept. 5.

The Mustangs celebrate after converting on one of junior Heather Goodman's nine kills Tuesday. Photos by Justin Petersen

While the greater B-league opponent Raiders took three consecutive games, 25-20, 25-13, 26-24, over the C-League Mustangs Tuesday, Ritter said her girls will shoot to improve skills and may just win some contests along the way in the West Valley Division this year.

Pioneer took the first step versus Silver Creek. Ritter was pleased that the Mustangs improved in every match, despite falling behind after leading early in the first game.

Bent on precision passing, as Ritter had intended this week, Heather Goodman capitalized, converting for a team-high nine kills in the opener.

“I have been telling my girls that our goal is anticipation and reaction time,” said Ritter. “We’ve been working a lot last week and this week on passing, to get it so our setter doesn’t have to work so hard.”

Ritter said that, despite the loss, Pioneer looked as good as the team did midseason last year. The Mustangs finished fourth in the C-league West Valley Division then, but Ritter is confident that Pioneer and their competition is a notch above from one year ago.

“Last year’s thinking was more of, we are trying to finish somewhere high in league,” said Ritter. “This year we are more focused on skills than how many games we are going to win. We need to figure out where we need to be and react to it quickly. The C-league will in some ways be tougher than it has been in the past.”

With several big guns and an import returning, Pioneer will have the artillery to combat any team in the league.

Ritter expects big things from Goodman and cohort Rebecca Case. Standing approximately 5-feet-10-inches apiece, the duo will share duties as middle blockers. “Between them and outside hitters, we ended up with about 10 blocks Tuesday,” said Ritter. “That’s better than the last couple of years. We haven’t really blocked that much.”

Case is a brand-new addition. This is her first year competing on the West Coast, in club volleyball, or otherwise, since moving from New York.

“She is very strong, has a great curve,” said Ritter of Case. “She is a good blocker and a really good hitter—very adaptable.”

Mustang captains Danielle Clough and Heidi Isaacson return as seniors. Ritter was positive about the talent and leadership she counts on from them as well.

“Danielle is fast, strong, probably one of best passers as well as being one of my hardest hitters,” said Ritter. “She can pretty much do everything.”

Isaacson, meanwhile, is the epitome of consistency, according to Ritter. The Mustangs count on Isaacson to remain fearless and tactful in pursuing lost balls, for return over the net.

“Heidi will hit the ball from anywhere on the court,” said Ritter. “She swings at the ball more than anybody out there. She realizes that a medium hit is better than an easy bump over.”

Isaacson also showed signs of tireless pursuit Tuesday.

“Heidi had a bunch of good hits tonight,” said Ritter. “Silver Creek just did really well at digging the ball. We are hitting as much and as well as we did two-thirds of the way into the season from last year.”

Ritter said sophomores Leila Vargas and Kristy Schaumaman will also figure themselves into significant roles on the team this season.

“[They] are potentially two of the top three defensive players on the team this year,” said Ritter.

While Ritter was hesitant to make any big predictions, she did say Pioneer volleyball fans can count on Pioneer to extend their philosophy and stick to the game plan this season. “We work on teamwork and we are looking for them to have fun and be enthusiastic about volleyball,” said Ritter. “It’s supposed to be fun.”

The road blues

Leland football drops season-opener
23-7 on the road to Santa Clara

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Editor

A 23-7 loss to Santa Clara to open the season wasn’t quite what Leland head coach Jason Tenner had in mind when his team stepped onto the Bruins’ football field on Sept. 1.

To the contrary, Tenner said he felt as if the Chargers’ woes from the 2005-06 season were clearly behind them and that the 2006-07 version of the Chargers was a new team with renewed vigor.

Leland's Adam Ondi fights off the defense during a run play in a 23-7 loss to Santa Clara. Photo by Jeff Frazee

“We came out flat, which surprised me,” Tenner said. “I thought the kids would come out a lot more excited than they did. You know, we still don’t know how to prepare and play for these afternoon games. We just kind of come out lethargic. It showed today. They wanted it more than us.”

Tenner said his frustration with the loss stemmed from his team’s overall mentality in the game.

“All my guys love baseball so let’s just say it’s a full count, bottom of the ninth, the bases are loaded, and you look at the pitch, rather than taking a swing,” said Tenner. “We’re going down swinging. We’re not making the play, we’re not stepping up. We’ve got seniors who look at themselves as leaders, but ask to be taken out off the field. That’s not the mentality you’ve got to have to win football games. You’ve got to want it so bad, that you’re going to play until you drop. That’s what football is all about; it’s playing with that hunger and that passion. If we don’t find it, it’s going to be a long season.”

What started out as an evenly matched contest for the first two quarters—with both teams headed into halftime still scoreless—quickly turned the Bruins’ way in the second half.

Santa Clara’s first offensive series of the third quarter saw senior running back Vince Pereira dash for the end zone, slipping through several tackles down the right sideline, for a 59-yard touchdown run with 9:19 left, giving the Bruins a quick 7-0 lead.

After Leland’s second offensive series stalled out on the Charger 28, a short punt by Leland’s special teams unit set the Bruins up comfortably on the Charger 35 with just under seven minutes remaining. Again, it was Pereira who hurt the Chargers with his feet, taking a handoff on first-and-10 at the Leland 25 on the Bruins’ fourth play of the series, and making a run for the end zone once again, scoring with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter to give the Bruins a 13-0 lead.

Meanwhile, the Leland offense struggled early and often, with the team getting its best chance to score in the first quarter of the game when the Chargers drove down to the Bruins’ 10 before a Garrett Avilla lob pass on fourth-and-goal to the right corner of the end zone tipped off the outstretched hands of wide receiver Kevin Krail, giving Santa Clara a break on defense.

“A common theme the last two weeks for us has been about nine guys on each play doing their assignment and doing their job,” said Tenner. “As we saw today, we saw consistent non-execution offensively, and missed tackles on defense. You can’t win games doing that.”

The Chargers finally broke through on offense early in the fourth quarter. With Avilla having thrown two interceptions in the first half—both picked off by Santa Clara’s Morgan Yee—Tenner turned to unproven junior Ricky Battipede to lead the offense with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Battipede did just that on his first series under center, leading the offense on a 12-play, 80-yard drive highlighted by a 37-yard pass to junior wide receiver Nate Jones on third-and-7 that set the offense up at the Santa Clara 17. From there, Leland’s running game did the rest of the work, running the ball four straight times, including senior Lance Gemette’s 3-yard run into the end zone, cutting Santa Clara’s lead to 13-7 with 11:45 left in the fourth quarter.

Despite the promising drive with Battipede under center, Tenner was non-committal on any changes at the position, or any other position, for the next game.

“I think, coming into this game, we weren’t really sold on either quarterback,” said Tenner of Avilla and Battipede. “I think today we saw some good things out of Ricky Battipede and we also saw that we needed to clean up some things at the other positions.”

Still, the small glimmer of promise late in the game wasn’t enough to overtake the Bruins, who struck right back, getting a 27-yard field goal with 7:24 left to pad their lead to 16-7 before driving the ball 65 yards on their next series, culminated by a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback David Gurrola to running back Jacob Ratliff with 1:18 left to seal the win for the Bruins at 23-7.

With cross-town rival Pioneer up next on the schedule, Tenner vowed—albeit somewhat vaguely—to make the changes he deems necessary for the Chargers to have a better showing.

“We’ll get together on Sunday and evaluate the film and we’ll make sure we put the best 11 on the field next week versus Pioneer,” he said.

Almaden Swim and Racquet Club ladies’ 3.5 and 3.0
tennis teams head to National USTA Championships

Almaden Swim and Racquet Club will be sending not one, but two teams off to Tucson, Ariz. to compete for the National USTA Championships.

The Almaden Swim Racquet 3.0 Women's Team, pictured at Carmel on Aug 24th. From left to right: First Row: Katsuko Furuta, Cindy Klinger, Beverley Dunn, Eileen Connolly, Jenni Eisenberg, Darlene Gerdts, Denise Scheaffer, Val Hill, Coach Jerry Hill. Second Row: Coach Kathy Barnes, Linda Witkop, Ingrid Jelesky, Ria Klaason, Lois Machado, Regina Reinschmidt, Coach Gary Roeske. Teammates not in picture: Karen Davis, Eva Lee, Lois Torres and Mable Yan.

Both the ladies 3.5 and 3.0 teams recently competed at districts and then sectionals to clinch the Northern California Championships. Heading off to nationals the last week of September and the first week of October is a huge accomplishment for these tennis ladies.

At Almaden Swim and Racquet, the rise in women’s tennis has been steady. In 2003, ASRC had only seven rostered 3.5 ladies in the entire club. In 2006, ASRC has a solid 4.0 team, and both the 3.5 and 3.0 teams bound for nationals. All team members have been longtime ASRC members and have been improving their play on the courts under the tutelage of Tennis Director Rodney Kop, Head Professional Gary Roeske, and Club Pros Kathy Barnes, Dave Crain, Ravi Gill, Jeremy Palgon and Independent Pro Manuel Fernandez.

Meet the 3.5s
The Almaden 3.5 ladies are not only solid tennis players, they are also fondly known for their on- and off-court fanfare. The 3.5 ladies are renowned in the tennis community as the Pink Flamingos and typically sport pink tennis outfits from Debb’s Tennis of Los Gatos. They are also admired for their gourmet tennis buffets, most typically illuminated with neon flamingo lights and served on flamingo china.

The 3.5 Team set a goal at the very beginning of the season to go to nationals. Led by their two-time captain, Liz Conroy, and co-captains, Carol Wolf and Patti Donovan, the Flamingos are a flock to be reckoned with on court. This season the team sported a record of 18-4, which included local league, district, and sectional play.

Winning at sectionals has ranked ASRC No. 1 in NorCal out of 261 teams. Although nationals was the team vision, the strategy was simple. Take one match at a time, buckle down, play hard and as Flamingo Christel Kennedy kept said, “Keep your eye on the prize.”

Meet the 3.0s
At the first meeting of the ASRC 3.0 Women’s “A” team, it was agreed that the team would fight all the way, with each player marking their calendars for the various levels of playoffs so that everyone would be available to play.

The team’s captain, Cindy Klinger and co-captain, Beverley Dunn, said they believe the camaraderie of the players on and off the court has contributed to their success. Team members came to all matches to cheer on their teammates, whether playing or not.

The team went into playoffs confident, having gone 12-0 during local league play. Local playoffs took place during the hot weather in July and despite temperatures of over 100 degrees on the court, the team still won. Districts were the next level of play, taking place in Sunnyvale. The team went undefeated there also.

The team then advanced to sectionals in Carmel and received plenty of helpful advice from tennis pros Kathy Barnes and Gary Roeske and one of the team spouses, Jerry Hill, who doubled as team coach. The team pulled off the win again to become the Northern California champions. There were approximately 3,000 women playing on 3.0 league teams this year in Northern California.

For now, it’s off to nationals in Tucson, Ariz., where both teams are hoping to return as national tennis champions.

On the offensive

With two new players on the team, Leland
field hockey dominates in pre-season opener

By Margo Consul
Times Intern

Leland field hockey wasted little time establishing itself as a force to be reckoned with this season, posting a robust 7-0 win over the Branham Bruins on Sept. 5.

Head coach Arjan Reyatt said his team did a “wonderful” job against the Bruins.

Senior Jesse Talaugon fights for control of the ball along the sideline. Photo by Margo Consul

Reyatt, in his first year as head varsity coach, has made a positive impact on the team, according to his players. Captain Sara Adams complimented Reyatt on his ability to “keep us calm and collected on the field.”

Leland put the pressure on early and scored two goals within the first seven minutes of the first half.

Claire Thompson scored the first goal at 5:15, by coming from the left side of the field, dribbled around the defense before taking a slap shot from the top of the shooting circle to score. Two minutes later, Whitney Reyes made it 2-0 with another goal.

Thompson led the Chargers in scoring with four of the seven goals. “I like dribbling a lot. It’s just easier for me. Goalies have so many pads and all you have to do is cut, get around them and push it behind them,” Thompson said.

On defense, the Chargers did not give any wiggle room to the Bruins, with Adams, Reyes, and Jessica Talaugon holding off the Bruins offense.

Experience and communication, according to Talaugon, are the keys to the Chargers’ success. Talaugon said the Chargers have “played together for the past three or four years by now. We all work really well together in these positions, so we already had a feel for things out there.”

With one minute left in the half, A.J. Huffman sent a short corner pass to Jessica Kolte, who promptly sent it across the goal to Reyes, who then put in the net for yet another goal.

Huffman showed speed in moving the ball quickly up and down the side of the field, creating scoring opportunities in front of the goal through out the game. Huffman said she attributes her speed to “the girls on the side and making quick, long passes. As long as you trick the other team and don’t hit your feet, make a couple of pulls you’ll get around quickly.”

The second half was much like the first, with Thompson dominating the second half with three goals. One goal was a product of a midfield breakaway only two minutes into the second half, while the other two goals were scored less than a minute apart.

Kolte, who has a verbal commitment to play field hockey for UC Berkley next year, had another goal with 13:56 left in the half.

Even with a strong start to the season, Reyatt stayed moderate on his prediction for the team’s season. Reyatt said, “It depends how much hard work they put in. We are as strong as our weakest link.”

Almaden Pop Warner back in action

The Almaden Pop Warner Mustangs started their 2006 season this past weekend and got back into the swing of things with a 0-0 tie against Division I powerhouse Coyote Creek.

Mustang Jack Pizzo (22) is shown here fighting off four Coyote Creek Wildcats on defense to gain some hard-earned yardage in the scoreless tie.

In addition, the Cambrian Pop Warner team got off to a solid start in 2006, posting a win over San Mateo this weekend. Cambrian’s Chase Hubbard (2) is shown here scoring the team’s first touchdown of the season in the win.

Photos by Kevin Jones at www.johub.com.

Share your news

Do you have a sports story to share? Contact the sports department at 494-7000 x 217 or by e-mail at diego@timesmediainc.com or fax to Almaden Times Sports at 494-7078.