Eagle fought Eagle in last Friday’s game between Los Altos and Harker, with visiting Harker winning 14-12.
The victory was the first in league for Harker (3-4, 1-2 SCVAL-El Camino), while Los Altos (0-6, 0-2) incurred its sixth consecutive overall defeat.
“We had a good week of preparation,” Harker coach Ron Forbes said. "But we were very fortunate today. I think Los Altos played better than we did, we were just fortunate to come away with a victory.”
Said Harker sophomore receiver Devonte Smith: “We expected it to be more of a blowout, but (Los Altos) played pretty hard.
Los Altos seemed to catch a break early on as Victor Ruiz intercepted a pass. But a penalty wiped out the turnovers -- one of more than 20 penalties the two teams combined for on the night.
The first quarter ended 0-0.
Los Altos did have some success with the hard running of senior back Daniel Orozco. He finished with 112 yards on the ground.
Harker, after that slow first quarter, broke through in the second quarter with a 56-yard scoring run by Smith. Harker tacked on a 2-point conversion and led 8-0 at halftime.
Such runs as by Smith were what fueled Harker’s victory, yet they were an uncommon occurrence in its previous games.
“Everybody knows we’re a passing team, and today we had twice as many yards rushing as we did passing,” Forbes said. “Our guys up front did a phenomenal job when we were struggling with our passing game to get that win.”
Los Alto finally shook itself from its doldrums early in the third quarter, scoring on a 46-yard pass from Lambie Lanman to Ruiz to make it 8-6.
Harker responded with its strong running game, scoring on a 9-yard run early in the fourth quarter by senior quarterback Spenser Quash, upping its lead to 14-6.
Unfazed, Los Altos responded with a 7-yard scoring toss from Lanman to senior tight end Conrad Rogers, moving it to within 14-12.
Harker proceeded to march to the Los Altos 2 on its next possession, but was halted there.
Re-energized by that, Los Altos moved downfield seeking that elusive victory. It managed three first downs, but ran out of time as Harker secured the victory.
Still, the Los Altos team was proud of its hard work, which produced an exciting, close game.
“This is probably the best game that we’ve had this whole season,” Orozco said. “We played with our heads up high and we never quit, but we did have to get in the end zone more.”
