Paw Prints Weekly, Glen A. Wilson High School’s Newspaper

By CHARLES TSUEI
SPORTS EDITOR

After a slow start, the football team exploded with big plays on both sides of the field defeating John Glenn 41-7 last week.

In the first quarter, both teams’ offenses struggled to put together a scoring drive.

It was only in the second quarter when Wilson’s offensive line used their strength to protect their quarterback.

“The offense wasn’t completely focused in the first,” said quarterback Andrew Tomsio (12). “We didn’t start making big plays until after the first quarter.”

Half way into the second quarter, Tomsio threw a pass across the field to Tim Gilmore (1) who ran the rest of the ay for a 62 yard touchdown.

“[Tomsio] rolled to the left side of the field which allowed Tim to get open downfield,” said Oviedo.

Completing passes to five different receivers, Tomsio threw for a total of 171 yards and two touchdowns.

Tomsio threw his second 62 yard touchdown pass in the closing minutes of the second quarter to receiver Andrew Romero (12).

In addition to catching the Cats’ first touchdown, Gilmore ran for 206 yards and an additional two touchdowns; one in the second and another in the third.

“Tim had the big runs and looked really good on the pitch plays,” said Oviedo. “He found open lanes and he also showed ability to catch.”

Even though the Cat offense remained silent until the second quarter, the defensive threat until late in the fourth quarter.

After Gilmore scored the first touchdown of the game, Andy Lim (12) recovered a fumble and ran for 50 yards to score in the second quarter.

“We were much more aggressive in plugging the gaps,” said Oviedo. “They were much bigger, but we played better assignment football.”

Continuing to shut down the Eagle offense in the second half, Lim recovered another fumble in the fourth quarter.

Another turnover occurred in the fourth as Alex Gomez (12) intercepted a pass for Wilson’s second defensive TD, giving the Cats a 41-0 lead with 2:51 left in the game.

Employing what they had done the previous week against La Puente, the Cats substituted in their second string. However, according to Oviedo, they were more conservative with their substitutions.

We put fewer second string players in than the game against La Puente,” said Oviedo. “I am really proud of the second string’s improvement on the defensive side of the ball.”

An additional factor that led to the Cats second win of the season was having a reliable kicker in Nathan Ramirez (11) who was recruited from the soccer team.

In his first game, Ramirez kicked five of his six PAT’s through the uprights and had a couple of tackles on special teams.

“Nathan was nervous on the opening kickoff where he ended up with the tackle,” said soccer coach Ricardo Recinos. “He did a good job timing his kicks.”

Recinos has been working with Ramirez during sixth period and also during football practice on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

Similar to last year, the Cats go into their third game of the season undefeated and facing last year’s CIF Southeast champions Schurr.

“This game will be our first real test of the season,” said Oviedo. “Schurr has a good running game and their passing threat is more credible.”

Despite the immense challenge, Tomsio said there is a big difference between last year’s team which lost to Schurr in the third week and this year’s team.

“We are more prepared and we learned a lot from our last game against them,” said Tomsio.

By JONATHAN HO
SPORTS EDITOR

After dropping a pair of close matches this past week, the Wilson water polo team (5-4) seemed to run out of steam.

The Cats lost to West Covina on Tuesday, 12-10.

Wilson got off to a slow start, but rallied back in the second quarter with a 6-1 run to close the first half.

Up 7-5 going into the half, the Cats found the tables turned in a hurry in the third, giving up five goals to the Bulldogs to tie the game at ten goals a piece.

Patrick Liang (11) led the team with three goals, while co-captions Ryan Ng (12) and Preston Rojas (12) added two each.

“Defensively, we gave up too many easy shots,” said Cavazza. “We had too many mental lapses and gave their guys too much space near the goal.”

Despite plenty of man-up, counter attacks and easy, wide-open shots, the Cats were unable to capitalize on their opportunities.

The lackluster offensive performance in the fourth ultimately led to a Cat loss, where they were blanked by the Bulldogs.

“It’s unacceptable for us to not score on fast breaks and man-up situations,” said Cavazza.

After studying films of their previous games, team members say they hope to pinpoint their mistakes.

“The process made us realize how sloppy we played,” said Gregory Yokomizo (11). “We’ve had trouble focusing in the last couple of games.”

Wilson lost to Webb on Friday, 11-9.

Harrison Toy (11) led the team with four goals and Yokomizo had three.

Rojas had a big presence on both sides of the pool in the game, with eight steals an four assists.

The game went back and forth in the first half. Wilson had a one goal advantage over Webb at the end of first quarter, and the game was tied at six at the half.

“Our defense played exceptionally well, but our offense wasn’t executing,” said assistant coach Jason Crosby.

The Cats were outscored 4-0 in the third quarter. Their offensive collapse in the third quarter ultimately separated them from the Gauls.

“We didn’t play to our potential,” said Crosby. “Everyone tried to do too much on their own.”

The Cats are set to participate in the Katella Tournament today and tomorrow.

JV beat West Covina 11-3.

By CHRISTOPHER CHIANG
STAFF WRITER

With more confidence, the Cats stood up to a grueling three game schedule this week, defeating two of their three opponents.

The Cats were victorious against California yesterday (12-6).

We played a lot better than before. We played more aggressively,” said May Sun (2).

Singles played a perfect game winning 9-0.

Doubles performed slowly, though, and lost 6-3.

Although the doubles played under par, the singles made up for the doubles lackluster performance. The singles’ perfect game pushed the team over the top.

The team played La Puente, Tuesday, easily prevailing over their opponent 15-3.

Doubles came out strong as they played a perfect game against the Warriors 9-0.

“The doubles played very well,” said Coach Jerelyn Lopez. “They were more aggressive and because of it, they won all their games.”

Singles dominated La Puente as well, defeating the challenger 6-3.

La Puente, however was not giving up with out a fight.

“We did not expect their number one singles to be that strong. She only lost one set to Marcia Oen,” explained Lopez.

Although the Cats were victorious, Lopez believes that it is imperative for the team to continue to practice.

“we still need to work on a lot of things. We need to improve our serves, especially the second serve, and be more aggressive at the net,” said Lopez.

Though the girl’s tennis team played well, their previous game was not as smooth.

Monday’s match resulted in a disappointing loss, as the Cats were beaten by Beckman 10-8.

Single was led by Marcia Oen (12) who won two out of her three matches. They lost 6-3.

Double feared better as they won 5-4. Partners Audrey Yonesato (12) and Cynthia Joe (12) and partners Allyson Yee (12) and Michelle Wong (10) guided the doubles, with each partner winning two out of three of their match.

“It was a close game. We could have won, but we had problems communicating,” said Wong.

The Cats play Los Altos at home next Tuesday, which marks the opening of league play.

“We think we can win, but their number one and two improved a lot, so we have to see,” said Oen.

By CHARLES TSUEI
SPORTS EDITOR

With an explosive offense and impressive defensive plays, the football team blew out La Puente last Friday, 40-21.

Wilson’s offensive performance was attributed to returning quarterback Andrew Tomsio (12) and a healthy Tim Gilmore (11).

“There is no doubt that Gilmore is ready to go,” said Coach Robert Oviedo. “He worked hard during the off season and matured a lot since his freshman year.”

Gilmore’s work paid off when he ran two touchdowns in the first quarter.

Besides Gilmore, who scored a third TD in the second quarter and ran for a total of 173 yards, the entire offense was clicking on an all cylinders as they scored 26 points in the first half.

“[Tomsio] looked really sharp, had a high passing percentage, and was fulfilling his responsibilities,” said Oviedo. “Everyone had a lot of hustle, picking up the blocks when they were needed.”

Tomsio threw for two TD’s on 204 passing yards the first was on a typical screen pass that Romero converted for a touchdown. Romero caught a 56 yard pass to score during the beginning of the fourth quarter.

“When I hiked the ball, Gilmore was right next to Romero, and the defense was paying more attention to Gilmore,” said Tomsio.

Tomsio agreed with Oviedo’s assessment of the offensive line.

“The blocking was pretty good at allowing me have enough time to throw the ball,” he said. “The [offensive line] really helped me get the ball out on time when I threw the pass to Romero.”

In addition to the team’s stellar offense, the defense limited the Warriors to only seven points in the first three quarters.

One key play was Matt Orosco’s (11) interception in the closing minutes of the first half which he took in for a touchdown.

When Wilson went ahead 40-7 led in the beginning of the fourth, Oviedo decided to rest the starters.

Bringing their second string players on the field, the Cats finished the game giving up two more rushing TD’s and a total of 275 rush yards.

“La Puente did their best the entire game. They didn’t care who was on the field,” said Oviedo.

Al in all, Oviedeo said he was pleased that the team got this win in the books.

The Cats, according to both Tomsio and Oviedo, still have “room to improve in the execution of plays” as well as the second string.

Tonight the Cats play against John Glenn High (1-1), who are, if anything, a big opponent.

“Like any other team we will face this year, John Glenn’s players are bigger than we are,” explained Oviedo.

By HARRISON TOY
STAFF WRITER

After two upsetting losses in the past week, the Volleyball team made an amazing comeback in the opener of the Granesha Tournament yesterday.

Confident to bring themselves out of their slump, the team shut out both Nuview and Chaffey, winning three consecutive sets each game.

New coach Paul Burdine says the team’s phenomenal services carried these games.

“Ariel, Arielle and Irene all had excellent serving throughout these two games,” said Burdine.

Rookie Isaura Balderama (11) and Sabrina Gonzales (12) played fantastic defense.

During the summer, the team had to adapt to Burdine’s new style of coaching.

“We don’t always agree with is coaching views, but if we use our knowledge of the game we will be able to win,” said Captain Shila Chakmakian (12).

Due to her pregnancy, former Coach Patricia Braconier, who led her team to CIF victory last season, was forced to leave the team in the final leg of their summer league.

Earlier this season, the Cats failed to redeem themselves against Diamond Bar after a defeat against California by a mere two points.

They played hard, but their defense crumbled against the Brahma’s passing and hitting.

Burdine said that Wilson struggled with their passing defense against Diamond Bar.

“Erica and Ariel made many great defensive plays, but numerous miscommunications caused their defense to break down,” said Burdine.

In addition to the new coach, the team has three new varsity players, all who have familiarized themselves with the team through summer conditioning.

Balderama, Irene Chou (11), and Melanie Pew (12) toiled to get acquainted with the varsity level of competition.

After two incredible wins, the team has more confidence for the rest of the Ganesha Tournament.

“We will definitely have tougher competition today and tomorrow. The team will have to really improve their game,” said Burdine.

The team looks to stretch their winning streak at Ganesha today at 3:00p.m.