LOS GATOS, CA - SEPTEMBER 2: Los Gatos High's Emiliano Mejia (2) runs for a first down while being tackled by Liberty High's Steven Luoma (65) in the first quarter of their football game in Los Gatos, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
LOS GATOS – Los Gatos’ offense took a big chance on the opening drive of its home game Friday night against Liberty-Brentwood.
Facing a fourth-and-two situation on its own 40-yard line, the Wildcats went for it. Emiliano Mejia ran for three yards and the Wildcats didn’t look back, proceeding to score the first of four offensive touchdowns in the game in a 31-0 victory.
“We struggled last week on the offensive side,” said Los Gatos coach Mark Krail about the Wildcats 28-14 loss to visiting Corona del Mar-Newport Beach in their opener, when Los Gatos’ offense accounted for only one touchdown. “We had a really good week of practice, actually, cleaned some things up, and just felt like let’s go for this. Let’s try to set the tone and see if we can get some momentum.”
Right after Mejia’s fourth-down run, Los Gatos quarterback Jake Boyd found Wil Brennan for a 32-yard pass and the Wildcats (1-1) eventually scored on a four-yard run by Jaylen Thomas. On its second drive, Los Gatos also reached the end zone on a 52-yard pass from Boyd to Henry Wong on the first play of the second quarter.
Boyd completed 10 of his 11 passes in the first half for 167 yards. His only incompletion that half was on the last play of the second quarter, an interception by Liberty’s Kyle Cook on a long throw. Boyd finished with 14 completions on 18 attempts for 219 yards. Thomas had a game-high eight catches for 96 yards.
“I thought we made some tough, contested catches,” said Krail, who also credited his offensive line’s pass protection. “And Jake, if he has time to throw, he’s going to put it where it needs to be.”
The Wildcats went up by three touchdowns in the second quarter on a one-yard run by Boyd. In the second half, Los Gatos scored its final touchdown in the third quarter on a 66-yard run by Mejia, who finished with a game-high 89 yards rushing. The Wildcats’ Sam Pearman capped the scoring with a 32-yard field goal with 6:57 left in the game.
Defensively, Los Gatos limited Liberty (1-1) to 88 yards rushing and 132 yards passing. Nate Bell accounted for all of those passing yards and also rushed for a team-high 45 yards.
The Wildcats received a fourth-quarter interception from Landon Heard in the win.
“Our defense played great. They’re so fun to coach,” Krail said. “They just fly around and they’re fast and physical and they feed off of each other.”
Liberty coach Mike Cable came away impressed by every facet of Los Gatos’ team.
“They were ready. They came out with an intensity, they executed very well. They were very prepared, they always are,” Cable said. “I knew coming in it was a great test for us. And we struggled. Where they executed, we didn’t.”
