LOS GATOS, Calif - With each team coming off of blowout round one wins in the CCS Division II playoffs, top-seed Los Gatos and four-seed Sacred Heart Prep clashed on Friday night in hopes of punching a ticket to the championship game. Los Gatos came out victorious, defeating Sacred Heart Prep 21-11 in a tight defensive battle and one of their lowest scoring games of the season.
Los Gatos (11-1) scored 14 of its 21 points within the first six minutes of the game. The Wildcats kicked off to the Gators, but on the second play of the game, Gators’ six-back Wilson Weisel fumbled the handoff, and Los Gatos University of San Diego-commit Ricky Moore was quick to fall on the ball. This set the Wildcats up on the Sacred Heart 20, where quarterback Yost Girvan would swiftly find Adam Garwood for a 12-yard touchdown pass.
Girvan and Garwood took charge of the Los Gatos offense, with Girvan going 9-of-16 for 135 yards and two touchdowns, and Garwood recording 13 carries for 77 yards and two total touchdowns.
Sacred Heart Prep (8-4) was weighed down by three turnovers and an ineffective rushing game. Los Gatos was able to hold the Gators’ standout running back Tevita Moimoi to one touchdown, and the Sacred Heart offense was mostly in the hands of quarterback Teddy Purcell and Weisel.
After the early score, Sacred Heart went three-and-out on its next drive, which gave Los Gatos the ball again in a decent field position. However, the Wildcats also went three-and-out and lined up to punt, but decided to catch the unsuspecting Gators off guard with a trick play. The ball was snapped directly to upback Alex Grado, who is the backup quarterback for Los Gatos. Grado dropped back and threw a 33-yard dime to Jackson Cookus, who was brought down on the Sacred Heart four-yard line.
“It was a little gadget play that we’ve been working on,” Krail said after the game. “Grado executed it to perfection, and it led to a touchdown.”
Indeed it did, as Garwood punched in for his second touchdown of the night a few plays later with a four-yard rush. The two early scores set the tone for the night and gave the Wildcats the energy they needed to stay in control throughout the entire game.
Los Gatos kept the Gators scoreless for the entire half. The Gators made one last push into Wildcat territory with under a minute remaining, but a huge sack from Moore ended the half. Moore was a prominent figure on defensive line all night and played a huge part in shutting down the rushing game.
“We were just doing our job,” Moore said. “That’s all we have to do. The offensive line was a little bit funky today, so we stepped it up on defense, and it obviously worked out for us.”
Sacred Heart finally put some points on the board with a 34-yard field goal from Ronan Donnelly in the third quarter. In an attempt to ride this much needed wave of momentum, the Gators attempted a sneaky onside kick on the following kickoff, but Nick Wiedling secured the ball for Los Gatos.
The Wildcats wouldn’t score again until the beginning of the fourth quarter, where Girvan hit Gian Lagemann over the middle for the 35-yard touchdown pass. A good PAT from kicker Ty Goldsbury made the score 21-3.
All the Wildcats needed to do was keep control of the ball for a couple of long drives, but Girvan unfortunately fumbled on a scramble in a later drive. Sacred Heart capitalized and efficiently moved the ball down the field with a series of short passes. The Gators made it all the way to the Wildcat goal line, where Moimoi punched in for a touchdown. Sacred Heart decided to go for the fake PAT, and placeholder William VanDyke connected with a wide open Will Mackie in the end zone for two, shortening their deficit to 21-11 with 5:15 left to play.
This time, Los Gatos knew that the onside kick was coming, and Grado came down with an unsuccessful pooch kick from the Gators. However, the Wildcats couldn’t keep control of the ball long enough to wind down the clock, and ended up punting to Sacred Heart. Unfortunately for Sacred Heart, the Los Gatos defense went back to completely locking down the Gators, and they were unable to make anything happen.
“We obviously didn’t have it go the way we wanted to,” said Sacred Heart head coach Mark Grieb. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. [Los Gatos] is a really good football team, and we played our butts off.”
Los Gatos will move on to the championship game next Friday, where they will meet seven-seed Oak Grove. The Eagles are currently on fire as they are on a nine-game winning streak, upsetting two-seed Salinas and six-seed Palo Alto in the playoffs. Los Gatos and Oak Grove actually played each other for their season opener back in August, and Los Gatos shut out the Eagles 44-0. However, the Eagles had some transfers join and several players with preseason injuries return, so the game should make for an interesting rematch.
