LOS GATOS, CA—Los Gatos completed its quest for a perfect season in league play, downing rival Saratoga in the Battle of Highway Nine, 49-7, on Senior Night for the 'Cats.
On the second play of the game, Los Gatos quarterback Kyle Reid connected with Caden McCloughan for a 48-yard score. It seemed, at that point, like Los Gatos would have an easy game, but their own sloppiness and Saratoga’s ability to capitalize made sure it wouldn’t be so, at least in the early going.
A series of Los Gatos follies, including two personal fouls, a fumble, a dropped and recovered punt, and a pass interference, led to a Saratoga score on a 57-yard strike from Will Liddle to Daelan Denenberg. Liddle finished the night with 185 passing yards, with 16 completions on 29 attempts.
After holding the Falcons to a punt on a drive started by a second Los Gatos fumble, the Cats drove with great ease for a Jake Clyne one-yard touchdown run on only five plays, which brought Los Gatos back to life. On the next drive, Will Fordyce rumbled, bumbled, and stumbled for a score. Soon after another stop from the Wildcats defense, Reid connected with Ben Grasty on a 27-yard strike to put them up 28-7 going into halftime. Reid ended 6-for-7 with 130 yards passing.
“I told them to just calm down. We were so amped up with Senior Night and the end of the JV game being exciting that we came out antsy,” said Los Gatos head coach Mark Krail.
The 'Cats continued to roll, as Fordyce scored for the second time on the night, and the defense made back-to-back stops before and after the touchdown, including a 4th-and-4 sack from Drew Shelton.
“When you turn the ball over like we did tonight, you have to play solid defense,” said Clyne.
Up 35-7 with 8 minutes left in the third, Los Gatos subbed in the future of the team, who made their presence known immediately with a touchdown drive on three runs from Collin Gregg, and a big stop on fourth down on the preceding Saratoga drive.
“The future is bright for these guys, we are going to have a lot of good returners next year,” said Clyne.
Finally, senior Frederick Pittman then extended the lead to 49-7 with a one-yard touchdown run, icing the game for the Wildcats.
The Cats claimed victory of Highway 9 for the ninth year in a row over the Falcons, but both teams look ahead to playoffs.
“We held some guys out tonight,” said Saratoga coach Tim Lugo. “The big picture is next week, not this week.”
Next week, both teams will start their quest in the Central Coast Section playoffs.
