The second-seeded Los Gatos Wildcats (6-4, 5-2) will take on the seventh-seeded Pioneer Mustangs (9-4, 5-2) in a home game this Friday in the first round of the CCS Division II playoffs.
The Mustangs will have a shot at redemption after losing last year’s Division II championship game, 28-21. Los Gatos pulled ahead in the final five minutes of the title game when tailback Garret Zeiter scored on a 1-yard run.
“We are very excited to get into the CCS tourney,” Pioneer coach Eric Perry said. “The guys are ready to play some more football and tackle an old opponent.”
In light of last year’s and the Pioneer’s strong record this season, Wildcat coach Butch Cattolico is far from taking the game lightly.
“We have great respect for our opponent,” Cattolico wrote. “We know how good they are and feel it is going to be a really tough game.”
Though Los Gatos had already secured an automatic berth for the CCS playoffs, their most recent victory earned the Wildcats the right to open the playoffs at home. Running back Joey Wood headed the Wildcats’ offense against Saratoga last Friday, rushing for 175 yards on 39 carries and scoring two touchdowns in a 28-10 win. The victory also created a three-way tie for second place in the SCVAL De Anza Division.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs weathered a tough 28-20 loss to Willow Glen to place seventh in the BVAL-Mount Hamilton Division. The Rams secured the victory when sophomore defensive back Hakeem Mays intercepted on Pioneer’s final possession and ran it in for a touchdown.
Nevertheless, Pioneer demonstrated its spunk earlier in the season by putting up a fight against the first-place, undefeated Oak Grove Eagles before losing 30-23. Los Gatos also lost a close game to Oak Grove, 24-21.
“Our team will have to focus on playing every down with all we’ve got,” Perry said. “Los Gatos is a great team and we will need to be at our best to have a chance.”
While Pioneer does boast an average of 270.3 rushing yards per game to Los Gatos’ 206.6, the Wildcats’ passing game appears to be considerably stronger at 129.9 yards per game to the Mustangs’ 70.6.
“The team will work on stopping the wing-T offense this week to prepare,” Cattolico said. “We’ll also focus on how to contain a team with a great amount of speed (like Pioneer)."
Likely, the game will be decided by star running backs Dominic Barnes (1,008 rushing yards, 15 touchdowns) of Pioneer and William Le (789 rushing yards, 9 touchdowns) of Los Gatos.
“We’re just going to do what we do,” Perry said. “We’ll try and keep Los Gatos on their toes and not be too one-dimensional. Defensively, we need to contain their running game. They are going to be bigger than us, so we need to fill our gaps and tackle.”
Friday’s victor will face the winner of the third-seeded Wilcox and sixth-seeded South San Francisco game in a second playoff round on Thanksgiving weekend.
