Football team suffers key injuries in 42-14 loss to Mountain View

Running back Troy Doles in a game earlier this year.

The scoreboard may have only said Saratoga lost 42-14 to Mountain View, but the game was much more damaging than just the final score.

In the Oct. 14 game, the Falcons lost senior running backs Troy Doles and Jerrick Lee to broken legs, senior lineman Sean Walsh to a broken back, and junior linebacker Henry Wei to a concussion.

The Falcons, now 2-4 in league play, will face traditional powerhouses Palo Alto Oct. 21 and Milpitas Oct. 28, followed by Los Gatos on Nov. 4.

“Them not being here really hurts our depth on the offensive line and running back positions,” said senior defensive lineman Eric Van Noorden. “However, it also gives others the chance to fill in and better improve the team.”

The injuries will certainly not go unnoticed. Doles, the reigning team Most Valuable Player, had rushed for 128 years and been the leading receiver with 165 yards. Lee had been the team leader in rushing yards with 286. Walsh and Wei had both established themselves as consistent defensive starters, as well.

The Falcons have faced adversity throughout the year due to injuries and will have to do the same now.

“Juniors have had to step into tough positions and one way seniors are having to go both ways (playing offense and defense),” said Van Noorden. “Also many players are having to memorize multiple positions.”

Early in the game, the Falcons fell behind when the Spartans scored in both the first and second quarters. Saratoga answered back in the second quarter with a 25-yard run by senior quarterback Mitchell Casas and later on a 3-yard run by Lee. Mountain View would go on to score 28 unanswered points and ultimately win their Homecoming match-up versus the Falcons.

With Doles, Lee and junior running back Bryson Yates all out for the season with injuries, the Falcon running game has lost much of its strength. This season, the running game has been the Falcons’ offensive strength, with almost twice as many rushing yards (892) as passing yards (503). Running backs sophomore Davis Berryhill and junior Eric Castronovo will most likely share time at the position now.

“I really think that due to the injuries and just all around lack of depth, we should become more of a passing team,” said Berryhill.

Even though the team has lost their three top running backs, they still can utilize the speed of Berryhill and Castronovo. Berryhill has also been an integral part of the Falcon running game with 178 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

“[Berryhill] has a very bright future and Eric has promise,” senior lineman Jeremy Wallin said. “They’ve had a lot of experience up here this year so we believe in them.”

The offense may have been hit the hardest with this slew of injuries, but the defense will also suffer considerably. In addition to losing senior lineman Mitchell Faylor earlier in the season to a leg injury, Walsh, Lee, Doles, Yates, and Wei all contributed defensively to the team as well.

“Because everyone plays both offense and defense, whenever we lose one player its more like losing two players,” junior wide receiver Stephen Ruff said.

With the abnormal number of leg injuries occurring, the question of whether there is a lack of conditioning in the problem has been brought up; however, players believe that the series of injuries has just been a cluster of untimely accidents.

“It’s definitely not the coaches’ fault,” said Berryhill. “I think it’s just mainly bad luck.”

Even though the team will miss the on-field presence of all of the players that they lost to injuries, the team realizes that at this point the only thing that they can do is just move on and play through the injuries.

“It really does hurt the team emotionally when multiple teammates go down, but we still have to fight and play through it,” said Castronovo.