The injuries continue to pile up for the Los Altos High football team – and so do the losses.
Taking the field Friday with nearly as many hurt players as healthy ones on their sideline, the Eagles limped off having lost another game (55-0 to Wilcox) and another starter (halfback Josh Tabula).
“We’re trying the best we can, but we’re so beat up,” said fourth-year coach Bill Waggoner, who entered Friday’s home game with 25 able-bodied players. “I’ve never had a team with so many injuries – and we were already thin to begin with.”
Thin doesn’t work in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division, filled with teams that typically hit harder and have more players than those in the lower SCVAL El Camino Division that Los Altos won last year. The depleted Eagles are off to an 0-4 start in the daunting De Anza – outscored 207-45 – and still have the top three teams to play.
“This year’s a lot harder,” said senior receiver Bemi Onipede, who caught six passes for 78 yards Friday. “Last year we thought we could just roll over teams and not even have to try, and now we’ve lost a lot of our talented guys and have to step up and do our best to try and keep up with these teams.”
Los Altos got off to a promising start against Wilcox (1-2-1 division). Quarterback Todd Grimm completed his first two passes – plays of 14 and 11 yards to Onipede – to put the Eagles at the Chargers’ 46-yard line. But Tabula was hurt on the next play, injuring his ankle severely enough to need two teammates to carry him off the field, and Grimm threw an interception on third down.
Taking over at its 42, Wilcox reached the end zone five plays later on a 6-yard run by halfback Roland Luke. It was the first of three touchdowns by Luke, who rushed for 120 yards by halftime. Running mate Delshawn Mitchell contributed 136 yards and a score in the half.
Los Altos’ linebacking corps has been hit particularly hard by injuries, according to Waggoner, and the Chargers took advantage. Wilcox racked up 333 yards on the ground, often running by or through the Eagles (1-6 overall). The Chargers had five runs of at least 20 yards by halftime and led 48-0.
It took Wilcox (2-4-1 overall) only seconds to add to its lead in the second half. Keenan Gates returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. The officials mercifully went to a running clock for the rest of the game.
Although this goes down as Los Altos’ worst defeat of the year, players like Onipede aren’t surrendering the season.
“We’re not going down without a fight,” said Onipede, who racked up 413 all-purpose yards the week before in a loss at Milpitas. “All the captains, me, Todd (Grimm), Daniel (Eaton), Kareem (Hyver) and Ramiro (Ramirez), we’re just trying to do our best to get these guys inside the game and get them going.”
Waggoner praised his players for not giving up during what’s been the toughest season of his coaching career. He mentioned Onipede, Hyver and Daniel Otey as standouts Friday.
Otey rushed for a team-high 37 yards in his first game as a running back, while lineman Hyver got a chance to play linebacker and running back, rushing for a first down late in the game.
Los Altos is scheduled to visit first-place Los Gatos 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Spartans stop Mustangs
Mountain View took another step toward securing a playoff berth by beating Homestead 28-17 Friday. The visiting Spartans improved to 3-1 in the SCVAL De Anza Division and 5-2 overall.
“Our team played with heart and courage,” coach Toure Carter said. “Mike Butler had a great performance, throwing to all six targets, and defensively we were able to hold them a few times.”
Quarterback Butler had three touchdown passes – two to receiver Tyler Halsted and the other to tight end Ken Hampel – and Marcus Jones scored on a 6-yard run.
Mountain View is slated to visit Palo Alto 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Lancers top Warriors
St. Francis got off to a great start at Valley Christian – David Mapa returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown – but the Lancers needed a strong finish to win Friday’s league game.
Jason Shelton’s 39-yard field goal with 36 seconds left catapulted St. Francis to a 24-21 victory.
The Warriors tried two passes, both of which fell incomplete, before a catch-and-lateral play for 11 yards that ended the game.
The Lancers dedicated the contest to former player Anthony Andrighetto (Class of 2009), who was killed in an auto accident Oct. 19 in Tuscon, Ariz. , where he was attending the University of Arizona. Players displayed a team-created plaque to fans before the opening kickoff and wore “AA” emblems on their helmets.
Andrighetto’s cousin, Dominic, broke up one of the passes thrown by Valley Christian on the final drive of the game.
St. Francis halfback Durell Crooks totaled 120 yards rushing, his fifth-straight game with more than 100 yards on the ground. Quarterback Colin Johnson completed all six of his passes, including an 11-yard touchdown toss to Shane Artim.
Mapa added a 12-yard scoring run in the third quarter.
The Lancers improved to 2-2 in the West Catholic Athletic League and 3-4 overall.
St. Francis is scheduled to visit St. Ignatius 1 p.m. Saturday.
Joe Schram contributed to this report.
