With the annual Saratoga/Los Gatos football game away tonight at Los Gatos, students at both schools are getting ready for the rematch of the season.

Los Gatos is in fourth place in the De Anza League while Saratoga is in seventh place. The league is composed of eight teams.
It is no secret to either school that there is tension and a rivalry between the two, especially when it comes to football.
Senior defensive tackle/nose guard Nick Aske has played football for Saratoga since he was a freshman. He noticed a lot of hatred toward Los Gatos as a freshman and after joining the team, he began to get excited about the rivalry.
Aske feels as though about 80 percent of the school gets excited and competitive about playing Los Gatos, not just in football, but in other sports as well.
“The rivalry really unites the school,” Aske said. “In some ways, it brings the Saratoga community together too. You can feel the energy and everyone comes together for a common goal.”
The Falcons hope to defend their win from last year—a win that broke a nearly 30-year losing streak to their rival.
“I think our chances of winning are just the same as last year’s: not high,” Aske said. “I’m not saying we aren’t going to win, I’m saying the odds are against us. We will always be the underdog, but we will also always be the team that wants it more.”
Senior class president Nicole Shadman feels as though only 50 percent of students are really competitive about the rivalry. Shadman thinks that the Code Red spirit team, a group of students who attempt to bring red pride to school games, will encourage more students to attend.
“Students should go to the game to at least support the people who get out on the field and have the courage to play despite the current circumstances,” Shadman said. “Even though we might lose, I think it’s important that we are still proud of what we have.”
When Shadman came to Saratoga High, she had a dislike toward Los Gatos’ teams because of the rivalry.
“I knows preconceived notions are bad, but it’s always been that way,” Shadman said. “Los Gatos will always be our rival since we are in the same district and have polarizing stereotypes.”
Los Gatos senior Jayten Weiss attended Saratoga during her freshman and sophomore years. According to Weiss, she didn’t notice any competitive spirit towards Saratoga when she arrived. However, Weiss agrees with Shadman that there are stereotypes between the two schools and it can sometimes get out of hand.
There was a Facebook group created last year before the Saratoga-Los Gatos game and students from both schools put each other down, made inappropriate comments and altogether got too riled up about the game, leading to administrative disciplinary action.
“The only negative thing about the rivalry is the wall it puts up between the two schools and the bad sportsmanship that comes with it.” Weiss said, in reference to the Facebook group. “I think both sides need to learn how to let go of the stereotypes of one another and take pride in their school rather than putting each other down.”
Weiss believes that the majority of students who are strongly competitive with Saratoga are football players. To Weiss’s knowledge, students at her school don’t even talk about the rivalry, but it still exists. Weiss says there are more important things going on at Los Gatos and that is what Saratoga students don’t see.
Weiss recalls her sophomore year, when she was attending Saratoga. She got yelled at and flipped off at the away game at Los Gatos. Her junior year, when she was attending Los Gatos, things were just as bad at the away game at Saratoga.
“Being a student at both schools has showed me a lot about both sides of the rivalry,” Weiss said. “Neither school is worse than the other, and that’s what I think people really need to understand.”
Los Gatos sophomore Sean Wieser noticed the competition against Saratoga as a freshman. From his viewpoint, approximately 55 percent of Los Gatos students are very competitive with Saratoga.
Wieser believes the rivalry is healthy and a good thing because it motivates people to better and support their own school.
“The rivalry can also make the games pretty intense for the ones that Saratoga actually scores against Los Gatos,” Wieser said. “Our football team is and always will be stronger, so the normal preparation with suffice for the game. Are we looking for redemption? Of course, because we were humiliated last year. That will not happen again for another couple decades.”