LOS GATOS — Los Gatos High senior football player Matt Wilcox was the Wildcats' Swiss army knife Friday night.
Wilcox caught a game-high eight passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns while adding an interception on defense and blocking a punt on special teams that led to a touchdown in Los Gatos' 35-14 victory over visiting San Benito.
“The whole team played really well,” said Wilcox. “Sometimes the ball just finds you and tonight it found me.”
Wildcats senior quarterback Dru Brown threw for 171 yards on 15-of-21 passing with two touchdowns and an interception. Brown also added a two-yard touchdown run. Senior running back Joey Wood ran for a game-high 117 yards on 19 carries including a touchdown in the win.
Los Gatos (3-0) ended San Benito’s season shutout streak when Joey Wood bulldozed through four would-be Haybalers’ tacklers for a 27-yard touchdown run to give Los Gatos the lead 7-0 at the 1:52 mark of the first quarter.
“It was a dog fight both ways,” Wood said of the game against San Benito. “We tried pounding it in and they stacked the box on me and I couldn’t do much but that’s why we have Dru Brown. He’s a phenomenal quarterback and he just dropped it over the top of them and started throwing touchdowns.”
Brown was nearly perfect in the first half.
Brown completed 15 of 17 first-half pass attempts and even scored on a two-yard touchdown run on top of his two first-half touchdown passes.
Los Gatos went into halftime up 28-7.
“It’s easy when we got all the time in the world, my linemen did great blocking for me,” said Brown. “We know that teams are going to stack the box because (Wood) has established himself as such a good running back so we figured the play action will just open itself up.”
San Benito didn’t go away quietly.
After an unsuccessful first drive to start the second half Andrew Sotelo intercepted Brown’s first pass attempt of the second half giving San Benito great field position.
Six plays later the ‘Balers got within two touchdowns after a Kyle Cameron three-yard touchdown run.
“We have a lot of respect for their defense so every yard that we got tonight was a battle,” said Los Gatos coach Mark Krail. “It’s punch, counter punch and you are going to put your best player out there and if they take that away than you have to have answer and we did.”
Wilcox made arguably the play of the game when he blocked a San Benito punt and Jake Parinello picked it up and scampered 30 yards for the touchdown with 29 seconds left in the third quarter.
After a Walker Sedgwick extra point the Wildcats went up 35-14 and the ‘Balers wouldn’t get any closer.
“We thought it was going to be a battle from the beginning and they gave it to us,” said San Benito quarterback R.J. Clark. “It was our first loss we’ll learn from it and get better from it. There’s always something you can learn from a loss.”
Clark ran for 46 yards on nine carries including a touchdown in the loss. The senior was 5-of-11 passing for 26 yards including a touchdown.
Wilcox and Colt Doughty recorded the interceptions for Los Gatos.
Wood ran for a game-high 117 yards on 19 carries including a 27-yard touchdown in the win.
San Benito (2-1) will be over the hill again next Friday when the Balers visit Oak Grove (0-2) of San Jose at 7:30 p.m.
Los Gatos will travel to Stockton next Friday night for a date with Sac-Joaquin Section power St. Mary’s at 7:15 p.m.
“It’s going to be a real tough matchup,” Wilcox said of facing St. Mary’s. “It’s going to be a battle they are a great football team that you have to prepare for.”
