Football: Season hampered by injuries

Senior quarterback Mitchell Casas threw for 1,130 yards and 6 touchdowns.

What began as a season full of hopes and spirit for the Falcons’ football team came crashing down with a slew of injuries to key players, contributing to the team’s 1-6 record in league, which was good enough for seventh place in the eight-team De Anza League.

With senior defensive lineman Mitchell Faylor, senior running backs Troy Doles and Jerrick Lee, junior running back Bryson Yates, senior lineman Sean Walsh, junior linebacker Henry Wei and sophomore running back Davis Berryhill all injured throughout the course of the season, the team’s capabilities were limited.

“We definitely fought adversity this year,” junior kicker Stephen Ruff said. “[Former head coach] Benny Pierce said that he had never seen anything like it.”

The season started off decently for the Falcons, as they won two out of their first four games by beating Gilroy on Sept. 9 and Los Altos during the Homecoming game on Sept. 30. However, those would turn out to be the only victories of the season as they would go on to lose the next six games, all against De Anza League opponents.

One year after beating cross-town rival Los Gatos, the Falcons lost to the Wildcats on Nov. 4 by a score of 41-7. Their only touchdown of the game came of a 15-yard pass from senior quarterback Mitchell Casas to Ruff late in the contest.

“It’s been a pretty unlucky season, losing a third of a starters were tough,” junior running back Zach Hansen said. “A lot of players like [junior wide receiver] Kyle Dozier and [senior defensive end] Eric Van Noorden stepped up for us.”

Even though the team lost many key upperclassmen, they were able to utilize their younger talent, specifically Berryhill and sophomore lineman Clark Rothenberg.

Berryhill made a strong impact on offense, registering 190 total rushing yards with an average of 4.75 yards per carry and two rushing touchdowns. Berryhill also totalled 153 receiving yards with an average of 10.93 yards per catch. Rothenberg also made a strong impact on both the offensive and defensive line.

“Berryhill has done a great job for us as a running back this year and he can be a big factor next year,” Ruff said. “The class that is coming up to varsity next year has a lot of talent as well.”

While the younger players made an impression on the team, the older players were the ones leading the statistics. Casas threw for 1,130 yards and 6 touchdowns, primarily to junior Kyle Dozier, who led the team with 503 receiving yards.

Lee, who missed the last four games of the season with a broken leg, recorded 302 rushing yards with five touchdowns, leading the team in both categories. Defensively, senior linebacker Brandon Oliveri-O’Connor racked up 68 tackles with an exceptional average of 11.3 tackles per game.

“Oliveri-O’Connor was definitely a big leader on defense and so was Eric Van Noorden,” Ruff said. “The seniors played a big role for us this year so theyll be missed.”

With the 2011 season over and the team looking toward the next season, they believe that the younger players will a big role in 2012.

“A lot of the juniors and sophomores got the opportunity to play this year, so we will definitely have a lot of experience for next year,” Hansen said.