Spartans lose first-half lead, then the game Spartans lose first-half lead, then the game (November 26, 2004)

Mountain View season ends in first-round playoff game

By Scott Campbell

After starting out strong and taking a 19-6 lead at halftime, Mountain View's dreams of a high playoff finish were wiped out by a strong entry from Westmont, 27-19 at the Spartans' home field last Saturday.

The first-round loss means third-seed Mountain View is out of the Central Coast Section playoffs and that Campbell's Westmont, seeded sixth, will face Palo Alto this weekend.

Mountain View started out strong, scoring three times before the intermission, but gave up 21 unanswered points in the second half, succumbing to a bigger and stronger Westmont team.

For the Spartans, the high points started early, when defensive back Kevin Harris recovered a fumble deep in Warrior territory, setting up a 10-yard touchdown run for sophomore Brandon Hamilton and a 7-0 lead.

The Spartan defense was also strong early, shutting down Westmont on the next series and forcing a punt that gave Mountain View the ball near midfield. After junior fullback Alec Nelson bullied his way to a first down, the Spartans again turned to Hamilton, who slipped through the Warrior defense and sprinted to a 33-yard touchdown. Despite a failed extra point, Mountain View took control with an early 13-0 lead.

But then the tide started to turn. Westmont intercepted a Mountain View pass that set up a two-yard touchdown run by Westmont's Daniel Weller, cutting Mountain View's lead to 13-6.

Mountain View answered with a methodical nine-minute scoring drive capped by an Alec Nelson 1-yard touchdown run to make it 19-6 but failed to capitalize when linebacker Juan Gutierrez made a 45-yard fumble return. The Spartans headed to the locker room with at 19-6 lead.

The euphoria didn't last. Early in the third quarter, Warrior quarterback Kevin Pham lofted a pass to Casey Modiri in the left corner of the end zone. The 6-3 wide receiver out-leaped Spartan cornerback Kevin Metsers to grab the touchdown.

"I had a great height advantage, and I just took advantage of that," said Modiri. "It was a jump-ball."

A Spartan miscommunication on the ensuing kickoff led to a fumble that Westmont recovered at Mountain View's 30-yard line. Two plays later, the Warriors struck again on an identical touchdown pass to Modiri.

Within 30 seconds, Westmont had gone from trailing 19-6 to leading 20-19.

"We scored those two touchdowns quick," said Westmont Coach Tony Santos. "Those are momentum changers."

Mountain View was losing steam fast against the bigger Warriors. Despite recovering a Hamilton fumble and withstanding a sack of quarterback Jon Warmbrodt, the Spartans were losing the battle at the line of scrimmage.

Succeeding with both passes and runs, Pham led his team down the field and connected with wide receiver Ryan Kanzaki on a 32-yard touchdown strike. The point after extended Westmont's lead to 27-19.

Mountain View tried to return to its effective running game, but with a tired offensive line, the runs netted minimal yardage and the Spartans were forced to punt.

"We have trouble with bigger teams," said Mountain View Coach Dan Navarro. "I think we wear down."

Nevertheless, a sack near the goal line by co-captain Dustin Johnson and two deflections in pass coverage by Metsers gave the Spartan offense one last opportunity.

After advancing the ball to the Westmont 11 yard-line, Mountain View faced a fourth-down play, needing only inches to prolong its drive. With just over two minutes to play, Hamilton was stopped at the line of scrimmage by a swarming Warrior defense.

Mountain View turned the ball over and was forced to watch Westmont run out the clock to win 27-19.

"We had a good first half and a bad second half," said Navarro. "The turning point was when we didn't score at the end of the first half."

Mountain View finished its season with a record of 7-4.
@email:E-mail Scott Campbell at sports@mv-voice.com

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