October 4, 2005

Warriors football breaks out on offense in 47-13 win over Leigh

Westmont beats A-league opponent handily; improves to 3-0 on the season

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

The Westmont football team took a convincing 47-13 road win over Leigh on Sept. 23, giving the Warriors a 3-0 start to the 2005 season.

Westmont quarterback Kevin Pham (16) eyes the Leigh defense before taking the snap in a 47-13 win for the Warriors on Sept. 23. Pham finished the game completing 7 of 13 passes for 114 yards and three touchdowns.

The Warriors defense held the Longhorns scoreless for nearly three quarters, allowing the offense to build up a 13-0 lead at halftime before extending their lead to 40-0. The Longhorns finally managed to get on the board with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Doug Webster to Blake McFarland with 14 second left in the third quarter to cut Westmont’s sizable lead to 40-7.

The Longhorns came into the game after two weeks without game action as a result of a bye week and a forfeit by Overfelt on Sept. 16.

“That’s a good football team,” Westmont head coach Tony Santos said of Leigh. “They’re just a little rusty because they haven’t played in a couple of weeks. They are going to win their games, but I think we’re a pretty good football team.”

Warriors quarterback Kevin Pham did his best work in the second half, completing 5 of 6 passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns after completing just 2 of 7 passes for 11 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Pham came into the game battling the flu but played nearly three quarters in the game before being lifted in favor of backup quarterback Bryan Thompson.

“I’ve been taking all kinds of medicine, I’ve been doing steam baths, antibiotics,” said Pham, who later found out he had a virus. “…I was supposed to take medicine during the game but my adrenaline was pumping so much that it didn’t even matter. I just felt good.”

The Warriors took advantage of several Longhorn miscues throughout the game, beginning with a botched snap during a punt attempt deep inside Leigh territory in the first quarter. The Warriors recovered the bad snap at the Leigh 9, setting up a 9-yard touchdown pass from Pham to Chantz Staden with 6:49 left in the opening quarter, giving Westmont a 7-0 lead.

Shortly after the start of the second quarter, the Warriors were on the board again, as Ben Prevedelli intercepted a Webster pass at the Leigh 18 and ran it back for a touchdown to extend the lead to 13-0 with 10:28 to go.

“We came in and we didn’t underestimate them because they whooped our butts last year,” Pham said of Leigh, who won a 41-12 decision on Sept. 24 of 2004. “We were trying to just return the favor … this was the best team effort I’ve seen since last year in the playoffs.”

The Warriors offense did its best work in the third quarter, putting up 27 points to take a sizable lead over the Longhorns.

The Warriors took their opening series 68 yards down the field in just five plays, as Pham completed 3 of 4 passes for 65 yards on the drive. Staden was the recipient of two passes for 40 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown catch that saw the senior running back leap and catch Pham’s pass outstretched, knocking down the pile-on with 10:37 left for a 20-0 lead. Staden finished the game with 22 yards rushing and 55 yards receiving with two touchdowns, an effort that drew praise from his coach.

“Like I’ve said before, I think Chantz Staden is one of the best players in the (Central Coast) section,” Santos said. “We throw the ball up and he comes down with it. We have some very athletic receivers and the offensive line did good enough tonight.”

Just over two minutes after Staden’s touchdown catch, the Warriors were on the board again as Webster was hit at the line of scrimmage by Westmont defenders right after the snap on the Westmont 12, popping the ball in the air and landing in the hands of linebacker Arthur Esterkin. The senior defender then ran the ball back more than 80 yards for another Westmont touchdown with 8:11 left in the third for a 26-0 lead.

“Those are big momentum changers,” Santos said. “Our defense scored two touchdowns. Those are both big plays, with what they did. I’m just impressed with our defense.”

The Westmont offense came back out onto the field less than two minutes later after the Longhorns failed to covert on fourth-and-1, setting the Warriors up on the Leigh 22. That resulted in Pham’s third touchdown pass of the night on second-and-13 from the Leigh 25, as the senior signal-caller found Stefan Fowler for a leaping touchdown catch with 5:27 left for a 33-0 lead.

After Leigh failed to convert once more on fourth-and-4 during the Longhorns’ next possession, the Warriors took advantage of some open space as senior running back Kelly Peterson took a handoff from Pham and scrambled 44 yards downfield for Westmont’s fourth touchdown of the quarter, this one coming with 1:47 left in the third for a 40-0 lead.

Leigh managed to get on the board twice before the end of the game, getting two touchdown passes from Webster to McFarland, the first one with 14 seconds left in the third quarter before connecting again with 4:57 left in the fourth quarter.

The Warriors scored once more after Leigh’s first touchdown drive of the game, getting an 8-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to wide receiver Ryan Kanzaki with 7:28 left in the game. Kanzaki finished the game with two catches for 33 yards.

Weathering the storm

Hurricane survivor dons jersey #90 and now calls Campbell home

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

Don’t tell Tremayene Johnson that lightning never strikes the same place twice, because he’ll prove you wrong.

Throw two hurricanes and some personal tragedy into the mix and his family became a model lightning rod during the worst storm in U. S. history.

Tremayene Johnson, #90 [a.k.a. “Louisiana”] is the newest member of the Westmont High School football team. Photo by Diego Abeloos

After surviving deadly Hurricane Katrina, huddled in a bedroom with his family as 150 mph winds tore the roof off his house and tossed uprooted trees around like toothpicks, the Johnson family spent nearly two weeks stranded in what was left of their home with little food or water, surrounded by toxic waters harboring snakes, wild alligators, and dead bodies.

They would later have to wade through those waters to get to safety, take their place in a 12-hour line for a flight to Austin, Texas—only to spend another two weeks sandwiched together with thousands of other displaced survivors in the convention center turned shelter.

But things are looking up for the hurricane survivor. Johnson now calls Campbell home.

He also added another first to his growing list of achievements on Saturday, when he took to the field in the number 90 jersey for his debut appearance as defensive lineman for Westmont High School’s nail-biter against Lincoln, which ended in a 28-28 tie.

Johnson’s mother Denise takes comfort in knowing that her family is in a new home and has a brighter future —thanks to a flyer from HurricaneHousing.org that she found on her cot while sheltered inside the Austin, Texas Convention Center, and thanks to Santa Clara based Silicon Valley Microelectronics’ [SVM] decision to seek out and adopt them.

It’s a gift that keeps on giving, as local communities, and families continue to contribute to a grateful family that just got a whole lot bigger.

Look for the full story (a Times Media exclusive) in the November issue of the Campbell Times.

Westmont girls’ volleyball takes 3-2 road win at Leland

Warriors bump record to 2-0 in Mt. Hamilton Division play

By Diego Abeloos
Sports Writer

The Westmont girls’ volleyball team took a tight 3-2 win on the road at Leland on Sept. 22, improving the Warriors record to 9-6 overall and 2-0 in Mt. Hamilton Division play.

Westmont’s Kelly Fleck knocks a kill attempt right into a Leland blocking tandem during a 3-2 win for the Warriors on Sept. 22.

The Chargers (10-7 overall, 1-1 Mt. Hamilton Division) spent much of the match trying to hold onto early leads with mixed results, as well as playing catch-up in two of the games, as the Warriors kept putting together solid offensive stretches throughout the five-game contest to pull away with the win.

“I would just say that mentally, I don’t think we were quite strong enough in that one,” said Leland co-head coach Trisha Moore. “We had too many mental errors in critical parts of the match that really cost us.”

The game five tiebreaker saw the Warriors jump out to a 7-3 lead on a kill from Ashley Britton, who led the game with 21 kills overall, and an ace serve from Kristin Obermeyer.

The Chargers jumped back into the game with a 5-2 run to cut Westmont’s lead to 1, getting a kill and a key block at the net from Joyce Chang during that stretch.

The Warriors, however, finished off game five and walked away with a win on the Chargers’ home court with a 6-1 run for a 15-9 win and a 3-2 match win.

“With Leland, Leigh, Branham and us, I think it’s going to be a tight race,” said Westmont head coach Peter Kim.

“We have a good chance. Leland is going to knock off people and I think at the end, it’s going to be who’s the toughest team because we’re all going to play against each other and probably take a win and a loss from each other.”

Game one saw 11 lead changes, beginning with an early 13-10 lead by the Chargers. The Warriors clawed back twice from small deficits in the early portion of the game, taking a 16-14 lead and an 18-16 just minutes after Leland came back to tie the score. Toward the end of game one, Leland took a slight 25-24 lead on a tip from Joyce Chang, only to see the Warriors rally for three straight points and a 27-25 win.

“I think our team has the ability to come back really well,” said Britton. “We just need to keep our heads in the game and realize that when we’re down by points, the only way we can win is to work together as a team.”

The Chargers came out in game two and put up a commanding 22-15 lead before the Warriors bounced back in a similar fashion to game one.

With the Chargers holding onto a 24-18 lead, the Warriors put together a 6-0 scoring stretch, led by two kills during that span from Britton, tying the game 24-24. But Grace Chang stepped up in the final moments of game two for the Chargers, recording back-to-back kills to give Leland a 26-24 win and a 1-1 tie in the match.

Game three saw the Warriors jump out in front with a 20-15 lead, only to see the Chargers come back with a 4-0 run, led by kills from Chaulet Scala, who led the Chargers with 12 kills, and Vicki Chang, cutting the Warriors’ lead to 20-19. The Warriors then bounced back with a 5-0 run to take game three 25-19.

“We just have huge swings right now of five and six points, and that’s a lot,” Moore said. “Five or six points you win, and then, five or six points you lose. Big swings like that can cost you a game.”

Game four saw the Chargers once more jump out to a big lead, only to get another scare from the Warriors’ relentless attack. The Chargers led 16-13 in the early portion of the game and extended their lead to 20-13 with a run that featured kills from Scala and Vicki Chang.

But the Warriors clawed back once more, going on a 6-3 run to cut the lead to 23-19. The Chargers ended up with a win in game four, getting two points to close out the game and draw even at 2-2, getting a kill from Grace Chang during that span.

Moore said the inconsistency throughout the match could be attributed to her team’s timing and awareness in games.

“There are times when you can swing 100 miles per hour and go for the kill, and there are other times where you have to place it and get it in,” Moore said. “We need to determine when those times are and right now, we’re not there yet.”

Point Break Volleyball Club 2006 season clinics and tryouts

Clinic: Oct. 8 from 2-4 p.m. for ages 12-14 and from 5-7 p.m. for ages 15-16 at Notre Dame San Jose. Cost is $25. Those interested please check in 30 minutes before the clinic begins.

Tryouts: Nov. 5 and 6 at Saratoga High. Ages 12-14 from 5-6:30 p.m., ages 15-16 from 6:30-8:30 p.m., and ages 17-18 from 8:30-10 p.m. Cost is $25. Those interested please check in 45 minutes prior to tryouts.

For more information, go to www.pointbreakvbc.com or e-mail revmoon@comcast.net.