We would like to give a shout out to our son (Franklin D. White III) who graduates from Los Gatos High School this Friday. As a transfer student from Saratoga High School his sophomore year, his journey through Los Gatos High has been filled with incredible highs and disappointing lows.
As a junior defensive tackle on a legendary football program, his team won the CCS Championship in a decisive win over Wilcox. With wins over Riordan, St. Ignatius and El Cerrito, they were headed to the CIF State Championship game against Central Valley Christian. In a well-fought game, Los Gatos came back from a large deficit to lose 45-42. Like life, this team faced adversity with decorum and grace. Although we were disappointed in the outcome, we could not be more proud of a group of young men, coaches and assistants that made this adventure possible.
Franklin’s senior year included even more exciting emotions during his last season at Los Gatos High School. Losing a tough game to Wilcox on our home field and losing home field advantage during the football playoffs, our football team traveled to Serra for the first round of the playoffs.
A true David versus Goliath story, Los Gatos prevailed 14-7 in another hard-fought game. Nobody (outside the Los Gatos community) picked Los Gatos to win in a hostile environment. After defeating the perennial powerhouse De La Salle, Serra was considered one of the top football programs in the state.
Los Gatos’—and Franklin’s—reward was a battle with Archbishop Riordan. With three offensive lineman weighing over 330/350/370 pounds, Los Gatos found itself in a familiar position (underdog). The Riordan offensive line was considered one of the best in the country. For comparison, Trent Williams, the 49ers’ perennial All-Pro tackle is listed at ONLY 320 pounds.
Riordan scored on their first offensive drive with relative ease, while our offense struggled to find their groove. Playing from behind, our offense started to click. Even better, our defense forced several turnovers that ended critical drives near the goal line. When the game ended on a Riordan incomplete pass to the end zone, pure joy and relief were felt throughout the Los Gatos supporters. Riordan was left in disbelief that they could lose to a team of “skinny ballers” from the South Bay.
For their reward of beating Serra and Riordan, Los Gatos faced St. Francis in the CCS championship. Although these two teams met in the 2013 CCS Championship Game (Los Gatos prevailing 32-14), Los Gatos had never faced this level of competition in the playoffs.
St. Francis had a very good offensive line, with one of the top running backs in Northern California. This game was a nail biter with St. Francis up 14-7 going into the 4th quarter. St. Francis prevailed 28-7.
As the gap between the public and private football programs continues to widen in the Bay Area, Los Gatos is one of the few programs that can still compete without recruiting top players.
Although these past two football seasons ended in defeat, we could not be prouder of all these football players, coaches (led by Coach Krail), assistants and parent volunteers who sacrifice so much to make Los Gatos Football a true Friday night phenomenon. I know that Franklin enjoyed this crazy ride with his “band of brothers” that he will cherish forever.
With shout outs to Coach Krail, Coach Clark, Coach Purcell, Coach Gus (our spiritual leader), Coach Orvick, Coach McGurk, Coach Farwell (our resident Yoda), Coach Perrotti (our All-American AD), Mr. Perry (our stats guy), Mrs. Lucy Wedemeyer (our North Star and moral compass), Jacob (our amazing trainer) and all the amazing parent volunteers, teachers and staff, words cannot express our level of gratitude for all you do. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
With warmest regards,
Frank and Lucinda White
Parents of Franklin III
*Letters are edited for length and clarity.
