To say Friday night’s matchup between the Fremont Firebirds and Westmont Warriors wasn’t the cleanest football game would certainly be an understatement. Neither team will likely use much of the game tape in season highlight reels, except perhaps for the video of Fremont wide receiver Isaac Garcia’s dazzling one-handed catch midway through the fourth quarter.
Shortly after a Westmont fumble, Fremont quarterback Ike Weidman found Garcia deep down the sideline. With his left arm tied up by the defender, Garcia brought the ball into his body with just his right hand and maintained possession as he was tackled to the ground. It was a huge 35-yard reception down to the Westmont 30-yard line as Fremont clung to a 21-15 lead.
“Ike and I have been practicing a lot trying to get those deep balls connected. I know the first game, we had a couple of deep balls and couldn’t connect, but we really wanted to get one tonight,” remarked Garcia when asked about his circus catch. “That’s definitely one of my top five catches.”
For about five seconds it looked like Garcia’s catch would be the key dagger to put the game away. Unfortunately for Fremont fans, the Firebirds fumbled the very next play.
Westmont would take over and pick up a first down and a seven-yard run, looking like they were finding a groove. However, after a holding penalty set the Warriors back to second and 13, a deep pass intercepted by Fremont’s George Allen Alcantara turned the ball back over.
A holding penalty on the Firebirds offense and a loss of yards on a running play backed Fremont up to its own four-yard line. A six-yard run by Henry Buenrostro gave the Firebirds some breathing room, but the team was still facing third and 18 with over 90 seconds left.
Rather than run more clock down, Fremont elected to pass and Weidman hit Buenrostro beautifully down the left seam for a 19-yard gain and a first down. It was the third time the duo had connected down the seam in the second half.
“We saw their safeties were coming down [towards the line of scrimmage] and he had a one-on-one matchup with a linebacker,” noted Weidman on finding Buenrostro on multiple seam passes. “So, we said, ‘Why don’t we just go there?’ and he beat them every time.”
The connection between Weidman and his pass catchers is impressive for any high school quarterback and made even more impressive when one considers Weidman splits time at quarterback with Buenrostro.
“Ike has the best arm of any quarterback I saw this summer. Ike has the best arm of any quarterback, including the Santa Teresa kid, that we’ve played,” remarked Fremont Head Coach Rob Swartz. “He just needs to gain confidence in what he’s doing. If he does that, he has the arm and accuracy to be very good.”
Fremont needed every bit of Weidman’s heroics in this one, given the fumbles and mistakes on special teams. The Warriors scored their first nine points on a botched snap safety by the punting unit and a punt return for a touchdown.
The Firebirds defense held the Westmont offense to just one scoring drive. Garcia delivered a pick-six score on the game’s first drive and Kaleb Baquero shined with his toughness on both sides of the ball, including multiple tackles for loss on the defensive side.
The Firebirds now take their 1-1 record into a Week 3 matchup at Milpitas on Sept. 13.
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