In most years, the Los Gatos High School-Wilcox High School football game serves as the de facto championship for Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division bragging rights.
This year is one of the exceptions. The Wildcats’ 35-21 win over the Chargers on Oct. 17 will serve as the appetizer to this season’s main course, a clash with Menlo School on Oct. 25. Both teams enter the contest tied for first place, with identical 2-0 league records.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the winner will end up as PAL Bay Division champions.
“Menlo does a lot of things well,” Wildcats quarterback Callum Schweitzer said. “They’re a program on the rise, and they do a lot of things different from week to week—both offensively and defensively. They mix things up depending on the situation, so it’ll be a good challenge for us.”
Even though Los Gatos (4-3 overall, 2-0 PAL Bay) has to be considered the favorite in this matchup due to its recent success and superior strength of schedule, it would be somewhat surprising if Menlo School (7-0, 2-0) didn’t keep this a one-score game.
That’s something Wilcox failed to do, and is a testament to Los Gatos’ superiority. The Chargers got the best of Los Gatos a year ago, snapping the Wildcats’ three-year winning streak in the series. However, their latest contest was all Wildcats.
Shane Harmer returned the game’s opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, igniting a dominant performance that saw Los Gatos go wire to wire en route to the victory.
“Shane’s touchdown impacted the game a lot,” said Schweitzer, who completed 11-of-14 passes for 212 yards, a whopping 19.3 yards per completion. “We always talk about setting the tone from the start, and that play set the tone from the start. Everyone was super excited to get the win obviously. We were waiting a long time to get the bad taste out of our mouth from last year. It was a big step to achieve our first goal of the season, which is winning a league championship.”
In addition to being the starting quarterback, Schweitzer plays a key role on special teams as the punter. He’s averaging right around 40 yards per punt, helping Los Gatos win the field position game. Special teams is an underrated part of football, but everyone who plays knows it’s a vital unit.
“Special teams is something we put a lot of work into throughout the season and off-season,” Schweitzer said. “We place a big emphasis on special teams and sometimes extend practice to work on special teams. It’s a big focal point to win on every side of the ball, and every unit is continuing to improve and get stronger every week.”
Senior receiver Max Thomas had five catches for 145 yards (29 yards per catch) and a touchdown. At 6-foot-3 and 196 pounds, Thomas provides Schweitzer what every quarterback dreams of.
“As a QB, you always love to have a big target to throw to,” Schweitzer said. “Max is great. He’s got sure hands, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Max drop a ball in my life. And contrast him with Beau (Musser), who is a speedy and shifty receiver type…It’s hard for defenses to contain.”
Schweitzer connected with Thomas for a 47-yard TD with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. Grayson Doslak carried the ball 13 times for 76 yards, including TD runs of 10 and 4 yards, respectively.
The offensive line of left tackle Rowan Merrick, left guard Nathan Vorobeichik, center Ryan Burg, right guard Walter Crafford, and right tackle Garrett Bertsch have been key in opening up the Wildcats’ offensive arsenal.
Defensively, Schweitzer said Cole Krings, Gavin Jordan and Austin Krug were instrumental in containing Wilcox’s potent run game.
“Those guys on defense made some big-time plays out there and did their assignment,” Schweitzer said. “All of the guys—offense, defense and special teams—put in a great effort and it showed against Wilcox.”
Krug and Jared Newman had 11 tackles each, while Krings and Tyler Purcell had two tackles for losses. Purcell and Newman had one sack apiece, and Musser had an interception.
