San Ramon Valley Handles Foothill on Homecoming

For Cal-bound senior quarterback Zach Kline, losing on homecoming was simply not an option. 

"Losing on homecoming is the worst thing that could possibly happen," Kline said.

He made sure it didn't.

The San Ramon Valley senior built on last week's brilliant showing with another gem. He completed 13 of 21 passes for 302 yards and five touchdowns as the Wolves cruised to a 42-28 win against Foothill.

"Give them a lot of credit," Foothill coach Matt Sweeney said. "Kline was very composed and we couldn't get them off the field."

Overflow seating was needed as San Ramon hosted a huge homecoming crowd, which included two-time Super Bowl champion John Gesek, a San Ramon alum, who delivered a pregame speech.

"He talked about everyone on the team doing the 1/11th," coach Mark Kessler said, "and how football is the consumate team game."

Gesek brought his Super Bowl rings and allowed the team to pass them around. 

The Wolves led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a pair of touchdown receptions from Sean Miller, but, in typical Foothill fashion, there was no quit in the Falcons.

Despite being clearly outmanned, the Falcons fought back. Jamirr Hollard scored aon a 3-yard run to make it a 1-score game with four minutes, 24 seconds left in the first half. 

But in a theme that continued the rest of the game, the Wolves answered quickly. Jordan Weiss caught a screen pass and raced 38 yards for a touchdown to cap a two-play drive drive to give San Ramon a 21-7 halftime lead.

The Wolves extended the lead to 28-7 early in the third quarter on a 4-yard pass from Kline to Michael Tagliaferri and it appeared the rout was on.

"I think our athleticism won out," Kessler said. "Our strength coach, Matt Johns, prides himself on prepping our games four success and that hard work paid off."

Foothill would cut the lead to 28-14 on a 1-yard run from Griffith Gates with 8:47 left in the game, but once again San Ramon had a quick response. 

Weiss took another screen to the house, this one for 36 yards and the lead was back to 21.

The teams continued to trade scores until Gates powered in from the five in the waning moments.

San Ramon Valley (6-1, 4-0 EBAL) has its biggest test of the season next week when it travels to De La Salle. The Spartans were 42-21 winners against Monte Vista on Friday.

Weiss ran for 50 yards on 14 carries and caught three passes for 85 yards. Patrick Worstell caughts three balls for 81 yards, while Matt Turner added three catches for 55 yards. 

For the Falcons, the loss puts their 19-year playoff streak in serious jeopardy. They must win their final three games to get back to .500 and qualify for the postseason. Foothill hosts Livermore (3-4, 0-4) next week, travels to Monte Vista (3-4, 2-2) after tha before its season-finale at home against crosstown rival Amador Valley (4-3, 2-2). 

"We took a big step back tonight," Sweeney said. "We have to get a whole lot better for Livermore."

Griffith Gates ran for 100 yards on 17 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns for the Falcons. Ray Hudson caught eight passes for 94 yards including a 4-yard score from quarterback Tommy Paulson. Paulson completed 18 of 31 passes for 183 yards with one score and a pair of interceptions. 

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