Varsity football was no match for Los Gatos High School, one of the top teams in the Central Coast Section (CCS), falling 49-0 on Friday, Sept. 19. Facing their toughest opponent of the season, the Panthers entered the game as heavy underdogs.
Injuries made the challenge even tougher, with 17 or 18 reported in recent weeks, according to head coach John Philipopoulos.
“If I’m being honest, it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen or been a part of,” Philipopoulos said. “But the good news is, I think we’re a couple weeks from being healthy, or pretty close to fully healthy, and I think we’re gonna be okay, I feel we’re gonna come out of it.”
Early in the game, the Panthers kept up with the Wildcats. Junior safety Mark O’Grady caught an interception midway through the first quarter, and the offense capitalized with a few first downs. But both the Panthers’ first two offensive drives, including the one following O’Grady’s interception, resulted in turnovers in Wildcat territory.
“We had some opportunities early, and we didn’t capitalize, but we were still hanging in there tough. But the game just for a variety of reasons got away from us,” Philipopoulos said.
In the second quarter, Los Gatos began to take over the game on both sides of the ball. The Wildcats scored three rushing touchdowns to lead 21-0 at halftime.
Due to the Panthers’ injuries, Philipopoulos said he pulled the team’s healthy starters early in the third quarter to avoid risking any more injuries for next week.
Los Gatos scored four more rushing touchdowns in the second half, finishing with a total of 49 points. On the defensive end, the Wildcats were equally dominant, holding the Panthers’ offense scoreless.
“I feel like in the first half, especially the first quarter and a half, I thought we played really well. We matched their physicality,” Philipopoulos said. “The bottom line is, we ran out of guys. We’ve got 17-18 kids on the sideline that are injured and haven’t been playing for various reasons.”
Junior wide receiver Will Armstrong said the Wildcats’ physicality made the difference. Los Gatos had multiple long runs resulting in touchdowns, and even capitalized on special teams with long punt returns. Defensively, they made constant tackles in the backfield to stop the Panthers’ run game.
“We definitely played a little soft, but we were lacking a lot of our starters,” said Armstrong. “By the time it was half, most of our starters were out, but we were lacking a lot of physicality.”
Armstrong and senior Ricardo Felix said the team has work to do and could have played with more effort.
“Maybe not to give up a little early. I mean, I think we put our heads down. Didn’t keep trying after that,” Felix said.
Heading into their first league game on Friday, Sept. 26, at Hillsdale, Philipopoulos said his postgame message to the team was to regroup and focus on a strong week of practice.
“Get ready to get down to Hillsdale. Find a way to get a win, get to three and two, and then that’ll take us right to the bye,” Philipopoulos said. “And then we have a chance to heal up a little bit, get some guys back that are transfers and that have to sit out, and then we’ll get ready for league.”
