Football: Falcons show heart, but fall short to Wildcats

After losing to powerhouse Palo Alto 55-21 on Oct. 18, the Falcons went into the game against Los Gatos on Oct. 25 needing a win to turn their season around. Although the team fought hard and was able to move the ball well at times, its effort was not enough to stop the Wildcats, who prevailed 42-14 on their home field.

On their first offensive series, Los Gatos put a touchdown on the board through the air to make it 7-0 Los Gatos. Even as the Falcons were able to contain the run, they struggled on third downs against the Wildcat passing attack.

The Falcons had momentum on offense as they drove the ball down the field, but an interception by the Wildcats shifted the momentum, and gave Los Gatos the ball back. 

Even though the Falcons were able to stop Los Gatos on defense after a QB sack on third down by senior nose guard Mike Fitzimmons, they were unable to keep the momentum with inconsistency on offense and ended up punting the ball back to the Wildcats, who scored through the air again to make the score 14-0 Wildcats. This type of exchange proved to be troublesome all night for the Falcons.

The Falcons were finally able to put a drive together as they moved the ball well through the use of short passes and wide receiver screens. They drove the ball to the 2-yard line and ended the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jonathan Walters to senior wide receiver Tony Capek, making the score 14-7 after the extra point.

“The whole team really come together [on the drive],” said Capek. “Everyone was playing for the person next to them rather than themselves.”

Again the Falcons gained momentum by forcing the Wildcats to punt, but they were unable to keep it again as they gave the ball right back to Los Gatos who scored another touchdown to make the score 21-7 going into halftime.

Going into the second half, the Falcon offense was slowed down as they were unable to move the ball on their first series, while Los Gatos used their power running game to increase their lead to 28-7.

The Falcons managed to get some offense going when they moved the ball into Los Gatos territory, but their momentum was again stopped when a questionable call by the referee gave Los Gatos the ball back. The Wildcats were called for a late hit penalty after hitting senior wide receiver Grant Faylor after he was out of bounds on 4th down and 10, a penalty that should have given the Falcons a first down.

“It was a bad call, like many others during the game,” said Fitzimmons. “It was part of bad officiating all night long.”

The Falcon defense was unable to bring down Wildcat running back Joey Wood in the latter part of the second half, which led to Los Gatos scoring back to back rushing touchdowns to increase their lead to 42-7.

Keeping up the fight, the Falcon offense showed a glimpse of last year’s success when they cut the lead to 42-14 after a long touchdown pass from Walters to junior wide receiver Joey Medeiros.

Although the score didn’t look like a close game, senior center Clark Rothenberg thought that the Falcons were competitive for most of the game.

“We were in it, and the game was closer than the scoreboard showed coming out for the second half,” said Rothenberg. “However, a few things didn't go our way, the referees made some bad calls, and we were unable to keep our momentum.”

Going into the final three game stretch, Rothenberg said he thinks the Falcons can end the season strong and get at least two if not three more wins. The team will play its last home game on senior night against the Santa Clara Bruins tonight.