Spartans gaining confidence Spartans gaining confidence (October 28, 2005)

After second straight win, could playoffs be in MV's future?

By Scott Campbell

Just three weeks ago, Mountain View High School was staring up at the rest of the De Anza Division, a cellar-dweller winless in league play, reeling after four consecutive losses.

How quickly things change.

After a 28-14 home victory over Milpitas on Oct. 21, the Spartans suddenly found their confidence and are hoping to ride the momentum of a two-game winning streak into their three remaining contests.

"We decided we weren't going to lose on our home field," said defensive lineman Jhamere Howard, who returned a Milpitas fumble 41 yards for the Spartans' first touchdown. "We're comfortable in the league now and we're planning on continuing this throughout the season."

For the second consecutive week, Mountain View (3-4, 2-2 De Anza) overcame a halftime deficit, using great field position and a handful of standout defensive and special-teams plays to top the Trojans.

After returning two kickoffs for touchdowns in the Spartans' 48-34 win over Homestead on Oct. 14, junior Shane Bounos again jumpstarted his team, this time with a 32-yard punt return to the Milpitas 23-yard line early in the second half.

Five plays later, quarterback Jeff Jalaba broke through the line for a one-yard score, his first of two rushing touchdowns. Senior Alex Shefveland's point-after tied the game at 14 with 8:35 remaining in the third quarter.

With a wild homecoming crowd spurring them on, the Spartans marched 73 yards in 14 plays on their next possession, but lost the chance to take the lead when senior Alec Nelson fumbled at Milpitas' one-yard line.

No matter. Mountain View's defense was up to the task. With the Trojans facing a third-and-five situation, Spartans linebackers Colin Campbell and Joape Pela combined on a seven-yard sack of Milpitas quarterback Michael Almond.

Mountain View gained possession at Milpitas' 25-yard line after a 10-yard punt and, again, after the Spartans' tailback tandem of Nelson and Brandon Hamilton brought the team to the doorstep, Jalaba burst through for a one-yard score early in the fourth quarter. Mountain View took a 21-14 lead when Shefveland converted the point-after.

"My running backs helped me out," Jalaba said of the duo that combined for 147 rushing yards. "They get me all the way down to the one-yard line. It's easy for me. I just walk in there -- six points."

"I think the backbreaker was when we got them to turn the ball over at the goal line and we didn't capitalize on it," said Milpitas quarterback Almond, who accounted for 196 total yards, but threw two costly interceptions. "It really changed the whole momentum of the game."

The Spartans put the game away when defensive back Leshawn James intercepted an Almond pass and returned it for a 40-yard touchdown with 1:39 remaining. It was the junior's third interception in the past two games and -- after a 55-yard scoring return against Homestead -- the second he has brought back for a touchdown.

Whereas Mountain View's defense proved to be the difference in the game, scoring two touchdowns and setting up a third, Milpitas was unable to benefit from the three turnovers it forced.

After the Trojans (3-4, 0-3 De Anza) struck first with an Almond-to-Tyler Dimich 23-yard touchdown connection at 4:16 in the first quarter, Milpitas looked primed to extend its lead when defensive back Ryan Abney picked off a Jalaba pass.

But on Milpitas' ensuing drive, Howard scooped up a loose ball resulting from Almond's wayward pitch and made the Trojans pay for their carelessness.

"I'm out," said Howard, when asked of his thought process during his first-ever touchdown return. "All the way."

Milpitas took a 14-7 halftime lead following running back Havelock Pomele's four-yard touchdown run with 2:33 remaining in the half.

Pomele rushed 16 times for 109 yards, while Almond directed the Trojans' option attack and gained 80 yards on 13 carries.

In gaining sole possession of fourth place, Mountain View suddenly appears comfortable in its return to the SCVAL's higher division. The Spartans went winless in De Anza play in 2003, their most recent stint in the seven-team division.

"Maybe we're getting accustomed to the more physical nature of the De Anza Division," said Mountain View coach Dan Navarro, whose Spartans lost their first two league games against perennial contenders Wilcox and Los Gatos.

With a visit to Palo Alto (3-0 De Anza) on Oct. 28 next for the Spartans, Navarro sounded a few words of caution about the Vikings.

"They may be the [best] team in the league."

Navarro's players, meanwhile, have a new aura of confidence that even brought out a word unthinkable during the Spartans' rough start: playoffs.

"We're pumped right now," said Jalaba. "We've just got to keep it up. Three more [wins] and we're in the playoffs."

E-mail Scott Campbell at sports@mv-voice.com

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