LOS GATOS —When Los Gatos High running back Joey Wood ended San Benito High’s shutout streak with a 27-yard touchdown run with 1 minute, 54 seconds left in the first quarter, it was the beginning of what would be a long night for the Haybalers defense.
Wildcats quarterback Dru Brown threw for 173 yards on 15-of-21 passing with two touchdowns to go along with a 2-yard TD run, and Wood ran for a game-high 117 yards on 19 carries including the first touchdown of the game as the Wildcats handed the Balers a 35-14 defeat Friday night.
The loss was the first for the Balers after they had outscored Hilmar and Palo Alto by a combined 75-0. However, Los Gatos, which is the top-ranked team in the Northern California Division II bowl rankings according to Maxpreps.com—San Benito entered the contest ranked sixth in D-II—is clearly a notch above any team the Balers have played this season.
“We thought it was going to be a battle from the beginning and they gave it to us,” said San Benito quarterback R.J. Clark. “It was our first loss; we’ll learn from it and get better from it. There’s always something you can learn from a loss.”
Matt Wilcox was the Wildcats’ Swiss Army Knife Friday night.
Wilcox caught a game-high eight passes for 114 yards and two TDs while adding an interception on defense and blocking a punt on special teams that led to a score.
“The whole team played really well,” said Wilcox. “Sometimes the ball just finds you and tonight it found me.”
After a competitive first quarter, Los Gatos pulled away and went into halftime up 28-7.
“It’s easy when we got all the time in the world, (and) my linemen did great blocking for me,” said Brown. “We know that teams are going to stack the box because (Wood) has established himself as such a good running back, so we figured the play action will just open itself up.”
San Benito didn’t go away quietly.
After an unsuccessful first drive to start the second half, Andrew Sotelo intercepted Brown’s first pass attempt in the third quarter, giving San Benito great field position.
Six plays later the Balers got to within two touchdowns after a Kyle Cameron 3-yard TD run.
Clark ran for 46 yards on nine carries including a touchdown in the loss. The senior was 5-of-11 passing for 26 yards including a touchdown. Senior Chris Blake led San Benito with 60 yards rushing on 13 carries.
Wilcox and Colt Doughty recorded the interceptions for Los Gatos.
Los Gatos will travel to Stockton next Friday night for a date with Sac-Joaquin Section power St. Mary’s at 7:15 p.m.
San Benito (2-1) goes to the South Bay again next Friday when it plays at Oak Grove (0-2) of San Jose at 7:30 p.m.
Los Gatos 35, San Benito 14
At Los Gatos High
San Benito 0 7 7 0 — 14
Los Gatos 7 21 7 0— 35
LG — Joey Wood 27 run (Walker Sedgwick kick), 1:52
LG — Dru Brown 1 run (Sedgwick kick), 10:39
SB — R.J. Clark 2 run (Carlos Miranda kick), 7:05
LG — Matt Wilcox 17 pass from Brown (Sedgwick kick), 3:21
LG — Wilcox 17 pass from Brown (Sedgwick kick), :40
SB — Kyle Cameron 5 run (Miranda kick), 5:06
LG — Jake Parrinello 30 punt block return (Sedgwick kick), :29
TEAM STATISTICS
SB LG
First downs 11 11
Rushes-Yards 30-138 32-145
Passing yards 26 173
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards 5-45 8-80
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — San Benito: Justice Felice 5-20, R.J. Clark 9-40, Chris Blake 13-60, Kyle Cameron 4-24, Hunter Nye 2-12, team 1-0. LG: Joey Wood 19-117, Ryan Gault 2-9, Nick Stojanovich 2-12, Dru Brown 4-4, Nick Occipinti 2-4, Jack Salcido 2-3, Quinn Spiteri 1-(minus-4).
PASSING (comp-att-yds-td-int)— SB: R.J. Clark 5-11-26-0-2. LG: Dru Brown 15-22-173-2-1.
RECEIVING — SB: Abel Pasilas 3-15, Jonathan Summers 1-9, Justice Felice 1-2. LG: Matt Wilcox 8-114, Dylan Plane 1-35, Nick Occhipinit 1-9, Ryan Gault 1-8, Joey Wood 2-7.
DEFENSE — Fumble Recoveries: LG 1 (Nick Kryvicky). Interceptions: SB 1 (Andrew Sotelo). LG 2 (Chris Wilcox, Colt Doughty). Sacks: SB 1 (Eli Sernas). LG 1 (Jack Jarrigan).
