SARATOGA – The pre-Coast Conference portion of the Gavilan Rams’
2004 football schedule opens Saturday with a 12 noon encounter with
the defending Golden Gate Conference champion West Valley
Vikings.
SARATOGA – The pre-Coast Conference portion of the Gavilan Rams’ 2004 football schedule opens Saturday with a 12 noon encounter with the defending Golden Gate Conference champion West Valley Vikings.
The site of the contest has been switched to Westmont High School. The game will be the 10th in the series between the two Santa Clara County schools, with the Vikings holding a 5-4 edge.
Gavilan, in its fourth year playing football, opened a two-game winning streak over the Saratoga club with a 19-12 nod at Santa Clara’s Buck Shaw Stadium in 1966. Gavilan fashioned a second two-game streak over the Vikings in 1995 and 1996 (42-28 and 35-27). West Valley has won the last two, including the most recent meeting 30-13 in 2001.
“We haven’t played in three years,” said third-year head coach John Vlahos of the Vikings. “We know Gavilan is a program on the rise with the success shown last year. As with any first game, you have to expect the unexpected.”
The Vikes earned a bowl bid by sharing the Golden Gate crown with College of San Mateo. West Valley finished with a 6-5 record, including a win over San Mateo.
West Valley, at 17, is one of three teams ranked among Northern California teams appearing on the pre-conference Gavilan schedule.
Vlahos dubbed 5-10 wide-out Evan Wallace as “the heart of our offense.” The returning starter is featured in the West Valley multiple pro-set offense.
Live Oak High graduate Orin Catrett is a second-year starter for the Vikings. The free safety “is the guy who sets our defense,” said Vlahos.
The Vikes coach added that the key to his team is the three returning starters on the offensive line. Two sophs made the Golden Gate all-conference list, center Adam Boer (6-4, 303) and tackle Matt Medeiros (6-4, 315). Highlighting the defensive front for West Valley is 2003 all-conference defensive end John Espe (6-1, 235).
“West Valley is very big up front and has a lot of experience on the offensive line,” agreed Gavilan coach John Lango.
“We’re anxious to see how well we play, how we react to adversity, how we come out and how we adapt to the heat,” Lango said of the afternoon game.
Lango said that the Rams emerged from last weekend’s Blue-White scrimmage injury-free. “We were a little sluggish and weren’t very physical,” Lango assessed of the intrasquad full-contact officiated scrimmage.
Lango has named red-shirt freshman Will Kilday (6-2, 230) as his starting quarterback, with Rhett Van De Mark as the backup. Brandon Zertuche, the third-stringer in 2003, will red-shirt this season. Gavilan begins the 10-game schedule with a 56-player roster.
