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Page 24 � Nov. 2–Nov. 8, 2007 � Almaden Times Weekly
TimesSports
Chargers fight hard, but lose homecoming to Del Mar
By Daniel Miranda
Sports Coordinator
Ahome is considered by many
a place one feels safe, comfortable
and where nothing
bad can happen. But that wasn’t the
case for the Leland Chargers at last
Saturday’s homecoming game.
Despite a hard fight, the Chargers
lost to Del Mar 35-21, dropping to
3-2 in league and 5-3 overall.
“What I was most impressed with
was the boys’ ability to fight back.”
Said Leland head coach Mike
Carrozzo. “Del Mar is really good
team.”
The Dons were able to stifle
Leland’s leading rusher Kevin Krail,
holding him to only 31-yards on
High School Sports
Schedule
Nov. 2–Nov. 8
Leland High School
Friday – Girls’ volleyball at
Westmont, 4 p.m.
Friday - Boys’ water polo varsity
league tournament at Live Oak, TBA
Friday – Girls’ water polo varsity
league tournament at Live Oak, TBA
Saturday – Boys’ water polo varsity
league tournament at live Oak, TBA
Saturday – Girls’ water polo varsity
league tournament at Live Oak, TBA
Saturday – Frosh/soph football vs.
Mt. Pleasant, 11 a.m.
Saturday – Varsity football vs. Mt.
Pleasant, 1:30 p.m.
Pioneer High School
Friday – Boys’ water polo varsity
league tournament at Live Oak, TBA
Friday – Girls’ water polo varsity
league tournament at Live Oak, TBA
Saturday – Boys’ water polo varsity
league tournament at live Oak, TBA
Saturday – Girls’ water polo varsity
league tournament at Live Oak, TBA
Saturday – Frosh/soph football vs.
Live oak, 11:30 a.m.
Saturday – Varsity football v Live
Oak, 2 p.m.
For more information about Leland
and Pioneer sports events, go to:
Pioneer athletics:
www.phsathletics.com
Leland Athletics:
www.lelandathletics.com
Blossom Valley Athletics league:
www.bval.org
Leland's Nate Jones catches a pass from quarterback Ricki Battipede during
their game with Del Mar on Oct. 27. Jones had four receptions for 113 yards.
Photo by Kevin Hubbard - www.johub.com
eight carries. With the running
game stifled, the Chargers
turned to the air attack.
Charger quarterback Ricki
Battipede had his best game yet,
throwing for 253-yards on 10
completions with three touchdowns.
Nate Jones was on the
receiving end of Battipede’s
throws catching four passes for
113 yards with his longest being
a 42-yard touchdown.
Leland started the game with
the ball on its own 20-yard line.
But on second and seven, Krail
fumbled the ball and the Dons
recovered. With 1 and 10 and a
short field, it did not take long
for the Dons to score the first
touchdown with a 4-yard run by
Michael Toso with 10:01 left in
the first quarter.
On Leland’s next possession, a
Battipede to Jones 43-yard
touchdown pass was called back
on a penalty. After a Jeff
Sommer’s run, Battipede went
back to the air, this time finding
Jones for a 35-yard touchdown
to tie the game a 7-7 as the first
quarter ended.
The second quarter saw the
Dons score two more times,
increasing their lead by 14
points. Toso scored the Dons’
second touchdown on another
4-yard run with 7:32 left in the
second quarter. With 25 seconds
left, Anthony Cukar found
Stephen Salerno for the Dons’
third touchdown and a 21-7 lead
at halftime.
The Dons took the ball to start
the third quarter and marched
down the field scoring on a 27yard
run by Salemo to widen
their lead to 28-7 with 10:28 left
to play in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter,
Battipede found Jones for a 42yard
touchdown that
brought the Chargers within
two touchdowns at 28-
13 as kicker Will Boring’s
extra-point try failed, and
there were just over 10
minutes left to play.
With the clock reading
3:44, the Chargers reached
the end zone when
Battipede found Sommer
for a 17-yard touchdown
pass. The Chargers then
successfully tried for a
two-point conversion,
which Battipede achieved
by sweeping around the
right side for the touchdown.
That left the
Chargers with 7 points and
a bit over three minutes to
tie the game.
Del Mar resorted to the
run to try to run some
time off the clock but the
Chargers’ fired-up defense
stiffened and the Dons
had trouble moving the ball. But
on third down and 11, Del Mar’s
quarterback Cukar found Bob
Schooler, who ran a slant pattern
down the middle and all
the way to the end zone, for a
70-yard touchdown putting the
Dons back up by 14 point with
two minutes left to play.
Krail set up the Chargers on
their 45-yard line with a great
35-yard return. Battipede tried
to find Sommer, but Del Mar’s
Cory Sullivan intercepted and
the Dons ran out the clock.
Next up for the Chargers is
Mt. Pleasant, which suffered a
17-14 loss to Evergreen Valley
High School during in the last
seconds of the game.
Leland's Nate Jones reaches over Del Mar's
Eric Tilbury for a reception that led to a
touchdown during their game on Saturday
Oct. 27. Leland lost the game 35-21 but
Jones had 4 catches for 113-yards. Photo by
Jeff LaPlante
The Leland Cheerleading squad performs a dance to the song "Diamond are a girls best friend." during the half time show on Saturday October 27 in San Jose.
Photo by Ben Dehoven