Willow Glen, Lincoln and Del Mar all fall on Halloween weekend

WG, Lincoln, Del Mar wrap-up

By Greg Lydon

Tough seasons continue for Lincoln and Del Mar, Willow Glen falls on road to Gunderson

The '09 season has been quite a roller coaster ride for the Willow Glen High football team.

The drama-filled season has featured a last second escape against Westmont, by a point 21-20, and an evenly-played division scrum against Independence that ended in a 22-22 tie.

Independence eventually won the game in in double overtime to spoil the Willow Glen homecoming festivities.

The last second field goal over Westmont kept things moving, a tie against the Sixers did minor damage, but Friday night's heart breaker against Gunderson might have cost the Rams a shot at a league title.

Up by 17 points entering the fourth quarter, the host Grizzles stormed back and stunned the Rams 35-31 in a wild Santa Teresa B league tussle.

Gunderson senior tailback Chris Eke scored on touchdown runs of 46 and 45 yards in the win.

Both big runs came in the fourth quarter.

“We gave up some big plays on defense and kind of sputtered the entire second half on offense,” Willow Glen head coach Oscar Caballero said. “We've had some wild games this season, but this one definetely hurts the most.”

Willow Glen led 24-14 at the break, getting two first half scores from James Aliason and another from senior fullback Dan Winter.

Aliason caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Mitchell Ravizza in the first, then reeled in a 25-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter.

Winter picked off Gunderson quarterback Nick Baity and returned the ball 45 yards for a huge defensive score midway through the third quarter.

Undaunted by the 17-point deficit, Gunderson rallied hard and came away with the 35-31 comeback victory.

“We thought we had a good game plan going in to stop him (Eke),” Caballero said. “In the end, he got the best of us.”

After the loss, Willow Glen now sits at 3-1-1 in league, trailing Independence (4-1) and first place Andrew Hill (4-0-1) in the standings.

The Rams won't have to wait long for another test, Hill visits Willow Glen Friday night in a monster B league showdown.

“I can't wait for the next one,” Caballero said. After a loss like that, you just want to get out on the practice field and start getting prepared for the next game. Hill has been scoring 30 points almost every game this year. I was surprised when I saw the score against Westmont.”

Hill and Westmont played to a 14-14 tie Friday night in Campbell.

While Willow Glen dealt with the harsh sting of a late game comeback, the Lincoln and Del Mar football team's continued to struggle.

Lincoln lost 52-6 to Oak Grove, falling to 0-7 overall and 0-5 in league. The Eagles racked up 230 yards on the ground, feasting on the depleted Lincoln defensive front.

The Lions were without several key players due to injury, including starting tight end/linebacker Michael Hidalgo and starting offensive guard/defensive lineman Marco De la Cruz.

“They beat us up pretty good,” Lincoln head coach Kevin Collins said. “Record wise, this has been one of the toughest years since I've been here. We're holding together. This group is still giving me a great effort every week.”

Junior Josh Ayala scored the lone Lions touchdown on a 3-yard run in the fourth.

Lincoln is now 0-7 overall and has first place Pioneer next on the docket.

Del Mar scored twice late, but couldn't close the gap as the Dons fell 24-20 to Lick Friday night.

Tyler Richardson started things off right for the Dons with a 5-yard touchdown scramper to cap off an impressive opening drive.

Lick responded with two scores and led 14-7 at the half.

“We have a very young group with a lot of kids that don't have a lot of experience playing football,” Del Mar coach Mario Busalacchi said.

The Dons deficit grew to 24-7 before two fourth quarter touchdown drives closed the gap to only four.

Junior Alex Oko threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Joey Lopez on the first score. Jose Lopez ran in the second one from five yards out.

“We did some nice things in the fourth quarter,” Busalacchi said. “We just ran out of time.”

Dealing with an already thin roster, Del Mar has lost several players to injury and failing to make grades.

Another blow came when starting quarterback Noah Pardo left a non-league game against Lynbrook with a concussion.

Pardo informed coach Busalacchi last week that he will not play football again this season.

“That's part of the problem with our win-loss record,” Busalacchi said. “We have lost a lot of key guys along with being a very young group.”

Del Mar is now 1-7 overall and 0-5 in league.

The Dons host Mt. Pleasant Friday night.