LOS GATOS — What a way to open a season.
Los Gatos and Soquel put on a spectacular offensive show Friday, trading leads throughout the game with the last team to score — Soquel — pulling out a 42-40 victory.
“If you’re a fan you probably enjoyed the game,” Los Gatos coach Mark Krail said.
Los Gatos simply could not stop Soquel quarterback Sam Whelan, who avoided sacks throughout with nimble footwork and completed one pass after another on the run. He finished with 22 completions in 32 attempts for 348 yards and two touchdowns while also running for three TDs.
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“We seemed to be nipping at the heels of that quarterback all night long and just couldn’t get him down but maybe one time,” Krail said. “It’s early in the season, there’s going to be mistakes early in the year. It certainly isn’t going to define us, this one game. We’ve got a great group of guys and we’re going to bounce back starting next week.”
Los Gatos averaged nearly 10 yards per carry on the ground. Grayson Doslak rushed for 153 yards on 15 carries and quarterback Callum Schweitzer added 67 yards on seven carries and also threw for 205 yards and four touchdowns.
Each team scored six touchdowns. Two missed extra points by Los Gatos proved decisive.
Soquel led 21-20 at halftime. Los Gatos took the second-half kickoff and drove 62 yards in 12 plays with Schweitzer hitting Beau Musser on a 7-yard touchdown pass.
Soquel responded with a 65-yard touchdown drive of its own to regain the lead, then forced a three-and-out.
The Knights drove for another score and added a two-point conversion to take a nine-point lead at 36-27 with 8:18 left.
Los Gatos answered with a lightning strike, going 76 yards on three pass completions with Schweitzer connecting with Mason Wend on the final 9 yards. A missed PAT left the score at 36-33.
But not for long. Los Gatos forced a punt then struck again on a three-play scoring drive to take the lead. On second-and-13 from the Soquel 46, Shane Harmer went in motion left to right and took a handoff from Schweitzer. He transferred the ball to Max Thomas going right to left, who flipped it back to Schweizer, who fired it downfield to Musser for a 46-yard touchdown and a 40-36 lead with 3:27 to go.
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“It’s worked over the years for us,” Krail said. “You just hate to use it and not get a win out of it.”
Musser was on the receiving end of three of Schweitzer’s four touchdown passes.
Soquel, however, had plenty of time to put together a game-winning drive. After a run on first down Whelan threw seven consecutive passes with the final one going 22 yards to Jake Escalante for the winning score with 41.1 seconds left.
“I’m proud of the fight,” Krail said. “We put 40 points up and scored the two scores we needed once they went up by nine. But we just couldn’t get that one last stop.”