Coach's Corner
Coach Cattolico's weelkly report on the Los Gatos Wildcats football team.
Los Gatos will play Wilcox Saturday night at Westmont High School in the CCS Division II finals. For the Cats, this is the 8th CCS final in 10 years, covering 2000 through 2009. The other two years the Cats lost in the semi-final game. Los Gatos has a CCS playoff record 22-4-1, 4 CCS titles and shared a fifth with a tie, since 2000.
Wilcox has also had a pretty good run and are in the finals for the second straight year. The are led by the leading rusher in the CCS #33 Anthony Herrera. This is the second consecutive year that Los Gatos has played a league opponent in the finals, which speaks very highly of the competitiveness of the De Anza League.
Three teams from the DeAnza league are playing in CCS finals this weekend. With five titles this decade, Los Gatos has already set a school record, with a win Saturday, we would set a new record of six CCS titles in this decade. Come out and see a great game Saturday night and thanks for all the support.
On a more somber note, tomorrow will be the anniversary of Mike Halpin's passing. We send our deepest sympathy to his family at this tough time, but we rejoice in our memories of this wonderful young man. Mike remains in our thoughts everyday.
Last Game at Helm Field for Los Gatos Seniors
Friday night at Helm Field was the very last home game for our seniors. The Wildcats opened the CCS playoffs with 48-0 victory over Westmont High School. The Cats started off a little slow but a Hirschman to Berg touchdown pass got things rolling.
Joey Vizzusi, made a great play intercepting a Westmont pass and returning it for a TD. The Cats then added 28 points in the second quarter to take a 41-0 lead at the half to put the game away early. Sophomore running back Garrett Zeiter rushed for 88 yds. and scored 3 TDs. in 19 carries in one half, and Nick Hirschman was 9 of 12 for 184 yds, and two TDs.
Andrew Berg had a touchdown catch and 90 yds. in receptions. Jake Hackman-Salazar had a TD and 80 yds. in receptions. Alec Gletzer and Zeiter also caught passes as did Dionte Cook from Hayden Hibberd. Andy Heimer returned as the kicker and hit on 6 of 7 PAT
On defense it was truly a team effort as Joey Vizzusi and Alec Gletzer led the way with 8 tackles each, but the Cats had an outstanding group of defensive players including Mike Sporck, Suhkrah Sohal, Charlie Zweng, Andy Aguiar, Shane Smith, Andrew Tjon, Nick Martino, Nick Lamson, Harrsion Tinsley and Landon Cramer.
Cory McDowell had a big run and scored a TD, while Bevan Waite also had a long run. Sam Bowers returned to action and is expected to be back at full force this week against Arago
The Cats continue the defense of their CCS title when they travel to Westmont this Friday to play Aragon High School at 7pm. So if you are full from your turkey and looking for good high school football, swing on out to Westmont high and see the Cats in the semi-finals of the CCS Division II Championship
By the way, congratulations to the field hockey team on another CCS title, and as always, thanks for the suppor
Coach CAttolico
Tough loss to Milpitas, but still No. 1 seed in Division II
It was a tough loss last Friday night for the Cats. The score was 20-19 the difference was two missed PAT's. The kids played their hearts out, but we made some mistakes on the field and you can not do that when you play a good team like Milpitas.
Jake Hackman-Salazar and Andrew Berg again had great nights catching passes from Nick Hirschman who played well again. Alec Gletzer and Joey Vizzusi laso played well on defense. It was a long bus ride home while we contemplate how the team needs to get healthy and make fewer mistakes as we head into the CCS playoff
We are in Division II and play Westmont on Friday night at Helm Field as the number 1 seed. The Cats look to defend their CCS title in this division which last year was called the medium school division. Westmont is vastly improved over last season and has a tie with league champion Hill to it's credit.
They have good size and outstanding skill players. Their linebackers #55 Ryan Ramans, #6 Chad Christopher, and #2 Miles Johansen are all very good and Ramans has outstanding size.
At the receiver postion #1 Dominik Arbet, #17 Miah Tia, #3 Billy Brownridge, and #9 Alex Kamara are all very capable, while QB's #8 Tyler Bishop and #10 Devin Laucher seem to be able to deliver the ball. Chad Christopher is the team's top rusher and Keshawn Buchanan #5 also has good speed to the outside.
It is a game featuring former WVAL opponents from days of old and should be a good one. Hope you can make it as the Cats open to defend their CCS championship and look to claim the schools 12th CCS title overall and the 6th this decade.
Just a reminder, this is a CCS game and a big crowd is expected. there is no Frosh-Soph game prior, so be here early for a great seat
Coach Cattolico
Two outstanding teams in Los Gatos and Wilcox, played Friday night at Helm Field. It was Senior Night and the Cats came out on top when they put together a great second half both on offense and defense to beat the Chargers 26-14.
The Cats defense all but stopped the Wilcox offense in the second half, and the offense mixed the running of Sr. Cory McDowell (126yds, 1 td) and the passing of Nick Hirschman (16 of 24 for 216 yds.) to secure the win. Andrew Berg had another big night catching 9 passes for 138 yds and 2 tds. as did Jake Hackman-Salazar, who caught 5 passes for 73 yds. and a td. Hackman-Salazar also shared the spotlight on defense with senior linbacker Alec Gletzer, as both contributed 14 tackles on the night. They also teamed to secure the only turnover of the night as Jake stripped the ball and Alec recovered the fumble.
Sophomore Shane Smith, in his first start at defensive end, had a big night with 10 tackles. Also playing well on defense were Suhkjrah Sohal, Taig McNulty, Mike Sporck, Joey Vizzusi, Charlie Zweng and Andy Aguiar. On the offensive line Wes Bolliger, Erik Eastland, Taig McNulty, Preston Rind, Gabe Wilds, and Blair Gardner all played well.
The win left the Cats in second place, one-half game behind Palo Alto with one game left to play. The team also clinched a playoff birth guaranteeing them at least one more game after the season finale next week at Milpitas.
Thanks For all the support and hope you can make it out to Milpitas on Friday night for another big De Anza league game.
Coach Cattolico
Friday night was not a banner night for Los Gatos Football. One of the hardest tasks as a coach is convincing your team that they can win when their star player is not on the field. Although we believed for a while, a crucial situation came up when we were down 7-6 with about 6 minutes to go in the third quarter. We felt like we could win, and had a third down on the 2 yard line. A TD would give us the lead, but we fumbled the ball and the team stopped believing.
Three plays later Palo Alto scored and we just could not come back. On the other side of the coin, Heyden Hibberd threw the ball well in his first varsiy start, and Jake Hackman-Salazar had an outstanding night as he became a one man wrecking crew for our team. The defense played well despite the score but it is hard to overcome 5 turnovers. Nick Hirschman and Sam Bowers two of the team's stars and captains did not play. The Cats play Wilcox this Friday night at Helm Field on Senior night. It is the last scheduled home game and should be a very good contest.
The team needs a boost this week as they are still very down after the 34-12 loss. Thanks for all the support and hope to see you at the game Friday night.
Coach Cattolico
Friday night was a big homecoming game for the Wildcats, as they suited up against rival Saratoga. It turned out to be a big night for the passing game as Nick Hirschman threw for 413 yds. and 5 tds. in just over two quarters as the Cats beat Saratoga for the 22nd straight time, 47-0. Andrew Berg set a record with 247 yds. and 4 touchdowns, including consecutive plays of 70 and 69 yards. Jake Hackman-Salazar had 166 yds.with 5 catches and a TD.
Hayden Hibberd threw a TD pass, in relief of Hirschman, to Dionte Cook for the final scoring of the night. The Cats defense played equally as well, recording their second shut out in league play. Joey Vizussi had a monster night with 18 tackles, and Alec Gletzer added 14 of his own. Charlie Zweng recovered two fumbles, and Luke Hollander also had a fumble recovery. Jon Impey kicked 5 of 7 extra points and one he supposedly missed actually cleared the uprights but the ref missed it.
It was a successful homecoming for the Cats as they prepare to take their show on the road for a big game with the Vikings next Friday night in Palo Alto. The season is winding down, but with league games left against Palo Alto, Wilcox, and Milpitas the season really is at the crux right now. Thanks for all the support throughout the year. Butch
Reserves Shine as Cats Rollover Winless Lynbrook
It was a night for our reserves to shine and the Wildcats rolled over winless Lynbrook 54-10. The Cats first team got things started in the first quarter as QB Nick Hirschman hit receivers Andrew Berg, Sam Bowers and Jake Hackman-Salazar for TD’s. Running back Andy Heimer ran one in for a score as well. Heyden Hibberd and the second team running backs took over and Cory McDowell scored from 30 yards out. Hirschman and the starters returned as Heimer took another one in to make it 40-3 in just a little over one quarter.
The second team took the reigns again and added 2 more touchdowns before the half. The first on a pass from Hibberd to Andrew Tjon, and a second on a 55 yard run by Cole Cusella. The score at the half was Los Gatos 54, Lynbrook 3.
The second half was a much more evenly matched as the second, third, and fourth stringers battled Lynbrook's starters. Lynbrook scored once more in the fourth quarter to make the final score 54-10.
Several Wildcats got to carry the ball including Pat Sgarlata, Jon Impey, Bevan Waite, Dylan Johns, Trevor William, Hibberd, and Nick Lamson. Even more Cats were in on tackles as Nick Martino led the way with seven, all total there were thirty one players in on tackles. Other highhlights on defense were a recovered a fumble by Joey Vizussi, an interception by Jake Hackman-Salazar, and three sacks of the quarterback by Mike Sporck, Suhkraj Sohal, and Cole Cusella. Jon Impey kicked off 9 times and did a great job, he also converted 6 of 8 pats. Next week will be homecoming against the Saratoga Falcons.
Friday night Los Gatos visited Fremont High School to play against Homestead High School. The game turned early on two big plays, and the Cats had it locked away by halftime. Los Gatos was forced to punt on our first possession and Homestead fumbled and it was recovered by Taig McNulty. Two plays later Andy Heimer scored his first of 4 touchdowns, and the Cats led 7-0.
After a short Homestead drive they had to punt and the ball rolled dead on the Los Gatos 2 yd. line. Nick HIrschman broke loose with an 82 yd. run, and Heimer followed up with his second score. and it was 14-0. The dam was broke and it was 35-0 by the end of the first half and the final was 49-14.
Los Gatos now stands a top the De Anza Division with a 2-0 record. Andy Heimer had a big night with 4 touchdowns. and 7 PAT’s. Sam Bowers had the best game of his life with 4 catches for 133 yds. and a punt return for 55 yard touchdown. Nick Hirschman was 13-20 for 231 yds and 2 TD’s. The defense was once again led by Alec Gletzer who had great support from Joey Vizzusi , Mike Sporck and Jake Hackman-Salazar. The Cats play Lynbrook on Saturday night in a cross divisional match up at Cupertino High School.
Hope you can attend, and
thanks for the support.
Coach Cattolico
P.S. The F/S team had a great win Friday night breaking Homestead's F/S team 28 game win streak with a thrilling 42-35 win. Garret Zeiter had a fabulous game and the entire team and all their coaches should be congratulated.
Mountain View came in to this game with a record of 3-0 on the year, and averaging close to 40 points a game. They left Helm Field Friday night with a 3-1 record, while scoring no points. The Cats scored 56 unanswered points and it was another great night for Andrew Berg who again scored 4 touchdowns. He ran one in, had an interception return and two passes for touchdowns. Nick Hirschman had another good night despite a tough pass rush from the Spartans. He threw for 211 yds. and three TD’s. all in the first half. Sam Bowers caught two passes on the night and one was for a TD. Alex Gletzer caught 3 passes and Jake Hackman-Salazar caught one. Both Hackman-Salazar and Gletzer had outstanding games on both sides of the ball, both in tackles and blocking.
The running game came on strong as Cole Cusella led the way with 91 yds. and a touchdown, while Cory McDowell and Andy Heimer each had over 60 yds rushing, and TD each. The offense had a good night and Andy Heimer was 8 for 8 kicking PAT’s.
On the defensive side, the Cats got their first shutout of the season as linebackers Alec Gletzer, Joey Vizussi, Nick Martino, Shane Smith, Mike Sporck, and Charlie Zweng all played well and were in on numerous tackles. Glezter and Vizussi seem to be around the ball carrier on every play. Also playing well were Suhkraj Sohal, Cam Hashemi, Erik Easkland, Taig McNulty, Dylan Johns, Nick Lamson, Sam Bowers, Andrew Tjon, Harrison Tinsley and Andy Heimer.
The Cats travel to Fremont High School to play Homestead a team which opened league play by beating a very strong Wilcox team, so the cats have another challenge awaiting them this week.
Thanks for all the support,
Coach Cattolico
Friday night after a long bus ride, the Cats returned to playing football the way it should be played. Scoring three times in the first quarter and twice more in both the second and third quarters The team beat a very solid Salinas High team by a score of 47 - 7.
Andrew Berg was an absolutely special player on the field, scoring four touchdowns, two receiving, one running, and another on a dazzling 93 yd. punt return. He also had one of three team interceptions, made four tackles, and caught 7 passes for 139 yds. All of this while only playing two and one-half quarters of football.
Nick Hirschman had another outstanding performance completing 15 of 18 passes for 275 yds, and three touchdowns. Sam Bowers caught five of those for over 80 yds and a TD. Jake Hackman-Salazar caught a couple, and Andy Heimer caught one. Cole Cusella had his biggest night of the young season running the ball for 117 yds. on 9 carries, including a 70 yd burst in the first quarter. Cory McDowell also ran well chipping in 58 yds on 10 carries.
Leading the team on defense were Alec Gletzer and Suhkraj Sohal. Andy Aguiar recoverd a fumble and played well in his first start on defense. Andrew Berg, Sam Bowers, and Evan Witty, also had interceptions.
Everyone played on this night, and the Salinas Booster Club fed the team after the game. Other than a couple of very long bus rides, it was a great night for the team.
This week we start league play with Mtn. View at Helm Field. Mtn. View is coming in 3-0 on the season, and it is Alumni Weekend, so I hope you can all make it.