St. Francis football goes to CCS finals St. Francis football goes to CCS finals (December 06, 2002)

By Samay Gheewala

After a slow start in the regular season against formidable WCAL league opponents, the St. Francis football team has stormed through the CCS playoffs, earning a rematch against Los Gatos, which shut them out the Lancers Mountain View in the second week of the season

Los Gatos went on to dominate the SCVAL en route to an undefeated season and the second seed in the CCS Division III finals, while St. Francis ended up squeaking in with the eighth seed.

Once the playoffs started, seeding didn't matter for the Lancers, who dominated first seed Terra Nova in the opener and last week showed themselves to be the team that has won 13 CCS football championships -- more than any other school -- while beating Gunn 33-14 on Saturday.

St. Francis won the game almost entirely on the strength of its ball-control running game, powered by fullback Will Taufoo, who ran for 156 yards on 24 carries, while Gunn's entire offense was held to 160 total yards for the day.

Alongside Taufoo, running back Daniel Descalso picked up 93 yards on five rushes, including the opening touchdown on a 61-yard run in the first quarter. Even Lancer quarterback Kyle Spraker got into the action, recovering a fumble by Taufoo in the second quarter and running in an 81-yard touchdown to put the Lancers ahead 19-0.

Aided by an interception returned for a touchdown in the third quarter, Gunn began a comeback in the second half, but the Lancers defense held them back, and the offense ate away at the clock with two touchdown drives to preserve the victory.

St. Francis(7-5) now looks forward to the rematch with Los Gatos(12-0), which is on a 38-game win streak during which the Wildcats have beaten the Lancers three times.

Mountain View worn down in CCS Semifinals.

Mountain View football's first trip to the CCS semifinals under coach Dan Navarro almost turned into a trip to the finals, with Mountain View leading 21-6 in the first quarter. But top seed San Lorenzo Valley (SLV) of Felton (12-0) -- aided by their size advantage on the line and a botched punt attempt by Mountain View (9-3) -- came back, winning the game 33-21 to end Mountain View's playoff run on their way to their fourth straight trip to the CCS Division IV finals.

The Spartans started the game off strong, with a 9-play, 72-yard drive for a Tariq Bright touch down, followed by the defense holding SLValley to three-and-out. The Cougars then had a bad snap that resulted in a bad punt, allowing Mountain View to recover the ball on the Cougar 15-yard line, resulting in a Max Davidson touchdown run for a 14-0 Mountain View lead early in the first quarter.

But SLV came back with an 80-yard drive, ending with a fourth-down pass into the end zone. Mountain View then answered with its own 80-yard drive, with Jeff Eckenoff catching the score on fourth-and-goal to keep the lead 21-6.

Unfortunately for the Spartans, after SLV cut the lead to 21-13, the Mountain View offense was forced to punt, and a bad snap -- like the one suffered by SLV earlier in the game -- proved crucial as the ball went over kicker Cody Himes' head, resulting in a Cougar recovery in the end zone for a touchdown, and a successful two-point run tied the game at the half.

The second half of the game was dominated by the defenses, as SLV had a field goal attempt blocked on its first drive. Mountain View quarterback Sean Manson's first pass attempt of the half was intercepted, followed up by a 32-yard touchdown run to put the Cougars ahead for good. San Lorenzo's huge defensive line dominated the rest of the game, as Mountain View's last chance to tie it ended on a failed fourth-down conversion in the final quarter.

Mountain View's offense was stifled by the Cougar defense, especially the run. Running back Tariq Bright led the offense with 70 total yards, with 10 carries for 48 yards and a touchdown, as well as two receptions for 22 yards. Max Davidson both ran and caught as well, grabbing 42 total yards. Himes, who also plays wide receiver, had 5 catches for 56 yards, while Jeff Eckenoff had 5 catches for 31 yards.

Winter Track Clinics

Fox Athletics is offering Track and Field Clinics for high school athletes this winter. Clinics are technique driven using specialized drills and video analysis. Week long clinics are two hours a day for $100.00. The speed clinic will be held Dec. 30 through Jan 3 and the hurdle clinic Jan 6. to Jan. 10.

Contact Coach Widstrand for more details and registration information at 650-814-4841.

Raptors seek players

The MVLA Raptors, a class 3 under-10 boys team, are gearing up for the spring 2003 season and expanding from eight-a-side play to 11-a-side. Spring players get priority in making the fall 2003 under-11 squad. Interested players born after 8/1/92 seeking a fun learning experience on a competitive team should contact Jeanine Valadez at j9valadez@earthlink.net or (650)941-8915 for more details and tryouts information.

@email:e-mail Samay Gheewala at intern@mv-voice.com