Seven touchdowns on 14 plays.
No, that’s not a typo. That’s what the Los Gatos High football team did in its Oct. 28 Santa Clara Valley League De Anza Division game against Mountain View before most of the starters were pulled in the third quarter so the reserves could get some playing time. The team’s reserves went on to score another TD later in the game.
“It was a pretty amazing performance,” Wildcats coach Mark Krail said.
Of that, there is no doubt. Crisp, focused and in rhythm, Los Gatos crushed the visiting Spartans 56-7 to clinch at least a share of the league championship. The Wildcats (9-0 overall, 5-0 league) can clinch the title outright with a win against Milpitas on Friday.
“This is a good team and we have been all year,” Krail said. “It was kind of a weird week because everything felt out of rhythm, but I kind of challenged the guys to prove me wrong. It felt like we were just a little bit off this week in practice and I said, ‘Prove me wrong guys.’ And they certainly did.”
Los Gatos’ performance was all encompassing. It dominated in all three phases of the game and made things look too easy. After the defense forced a three-and-out on the opening possession of the game, the offense scored on its second play when Jake Boyd connected with Luke Pittock for a 53-yard touchdown.
Pittock was lined up on the right side and ran a straight go route when Boyd hit him in stride. Mountain View (5-5, 2-4) actually threatened to score on the ensuing series only to have Wildcats safety Landon Heard make a leaping interception and return it 99 yards for a TD.
“It was fourth and long and I saw the back receiver in motion,” Heard said. “We were switching defenses up and we were a little screwed up (formation-wise). But I saw the corner route in front of me and the QB was staring it down. He threw it a little too high.”
Once Heard intercepted the ball, he immediately accelerated to the sideline, where he had a convoy of blockers to spring him to the end zone. Heard still had to make a couple of nifty moves to juke a couple of defenders and performed a nice balancing act to stay in bounds.
“I was tightroping down the sideline,” he said. “When one of us gets the ball, we’re looking for the end zone right away. That’s what we work on in practice. I saw a hole, all my guys were blocking and I just hit it.”
Heard could’ve simply knocked the ball down and Los Gatos would’ve taken over at its own 27-yard line. But once he intercepted the pass, Heard knew he had to return the ball at least that far or he would’ve heard it from the coaches.
“I got to it and was kind of freaking out,” Heard said. “I told myself, ‘I gotta return this farther or else coach is going to kill me.’”
Said Krail: “The ball is in the air and I’m yelling, ‘Knock it down, knock it down, don’t catch it.’ So what does he do? He catches it and takes it 99 yards. It’s one of those no-no-no oh yes-yes-yes go-go-go moments. He has a great nose for the ball and he’s played great all year at free safety for us.”
On its first seven TDs, Los Gatos needed just four plays or less to reach the end zone. Lucas White had a huge punt return that set up Los Gatos for an easy score on its third possession. Starting at the Mountain View 25-yard line, Boyd hit Quinn Meritt, who made a leaping, acrobatic catch for 22 yards.
From there, Alejandro Quijada ran around right end untouched for a TD to make it 21-0 with 4 minutes, 4 seconds left in the first quarter. Caspian Bailey ripped off a 61-yard TD run which was followed by short TD runs from Boyd and Quijada and another pick 6 from the defense that put the Wildcats up 49-0 going into halftime.
On the second defensive touchdown, Jack Temple hit the Mountain View quarterback as he was releasing the ball, and it popped up in the air before landing in the arms of Kevin Rogers, who returned it 22 yards for a TD.
“It all starts with the physicality and speed with which we play,” Krail said. “We wanted to get off to a fast start and we did.”
Los Gatos has won all nine of its games by 21 points or more, a testament to its dominance. Heard said the competition within practice keeps the team sharp.
“Honestly, our best competitor right now is ourselves in practice,” he said. “We all keep the intensity up and know we have to stay focused.”
Sports reporter Emanuel Lee can be reached at [email protected]
