Sep 7, 2007

Wildcats to face test in opener

By Dick Sparrer / MediaNews

It was in the fall of 2002 when Los Gatos first scheduled Aragon for a non-league football game. The Wildcats blanked the Dons 34-0 in the season opener, and every year since the clubs have met to begin another campaign.

The results have always been the same.

Los Gatos will take a five-game winning string against the Dons to Aragon on Saturday when the two Central Coast Section powerhouses lock horns at 2 p.m.

The 'Cats followed up that 34-0 win in 2002 with a 22-7 victory in '03 and subsequent wins of 41-14, 41-0 and 28-10. But as far as Los Gatos coach Butch Cattolico is concerned, you can throw away those scores because he knows his Wildcats will have their hands full this time.

"They're pretty good," he said of the Dons. "We saw them scrimmage Serra, and they were pretty even. Aragon pushed them right down the field and pretty much dominated the line of scrimmage."

Serra, one of the top teams in the Bay Area if not the state, opened the season with a 41-7 win over Buchanan of Clovis last weekend.

The Dons had a good season last year, going 8-2 to reach the CCS Open Division playoffs before losing to ultimate champion Palo Alto.

"It looks like they're all coming back this year," Cattolico said of the Aragon players. "Their running back, their quarterback and about three-quarters of their line are all back."

Of course, that's no reason for the Wildcats to panic. They also have a few guys back from a 10-3 team that lost in the CCS Medium School final to Saint Ignatius. And the 'Cats are coming off off a solid effort in their scrimmage against Leigh last week.

"We looked pretty good," Cattolico said. "We scored four times, and we scored both times the first unit was in there."

He was pleased with the performance of running back Nick Kalpin, and he praised quarterbacks Andrew Gomez and Nick Hirschman (a sophomore), who were a combined 9 of 12 passing.

Aragon coach Steve Sell expects the team to be a measuring stick for his club.

"Los Gatos is always good early in the season, as they are good late in the season," Sell said. "They're a great team to play in the first game because you know where you stand. If you have any deficiencies, they'll find them."


Staff writer John Reid contributed to this report.