Football: Milpitas delivers painful league loss

Senior quarterback Mitchell Casas is sacked deep in Milpitas territory. The Falcons settled for a field goal on the drive.

On Oct. 28, the Falcons suffered a 31-17 loss to league rivals Milpitas. With the defeat, the team has fallen to 1-4 in league and seventh place out of the eight teams in the De Anza League.

Junior kicker Stephen Ruff led the Falcon offense with a 32-yard field goal and a 4-yard touchdown run during the fourth quarter. Senior tight end Brandon Gummow also scored on a 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Even though the game went down as a lopsided loss in the books, some of the players believe it was well-played by both teams.

“We thought that we played pretty well,” junior running back Daniel Castronovo said. “We turned the ball over a few times but other than that we played well.”

Offense continues to be a problem for the Falcons after losing a slew of running backs earlier in the season. With their options in the backfield limited, the team has started to lean on more on passing plays from senior quarterback Mitchell Casas.

“We didn’t really make the most of our opportunities offensively,” Castronovo said. “Now we’re starting to focus more on our passing game and it’s getting better each game but it we could do better as a whole offensively.”

With the team facing powerhouse and cross-town rival Los Gatos at Los Gatos this Friday, they know that they need to bring their A game.

“We need to play every game like its our last, and for the seniors it will be their last game so that makes it even more meaningful,” Castronovo said.