Mustangs fall in lightning-delayed game
WALNUT CREEK — The Rodriguez High football team came ready to play — on Friday.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, their Friday game at Las Lomas was postponed midway through the second quarter to Saturday night. The Knights took advantage of the extra day, outplaying and outadjusting Rodriguez for a 28-14 victory after trailing 14-12 when play resumed.
“Last night we had all the momentum,” said first-year coach Jason Ott. “We had them kind of confused defensively and they had a lot of guys going both ways defensively. I saw a lot of guys getting tired. They made great adjustments. They got guys coached up, they had subs so guys weren’t going both ways.”
The momentum switched shortly after the 7-minute halftime when the Mustangs (0-2) went for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 33 and quarterback Jordan Riggins lost 3 yards.
The Knights (2-0) took the lead for good at 15-14 on a 28-yard Mitchell Howard field goal with 3 minutes, 46 seconds left in the third quarter. It took them nearly 7 minutes and 10 plays to go 19 yards before Howard’s boot.
It was all a sign of things to come. Las Lomas executed a perfect on-side kick with David Brys recovering on the Rodriguez 33 for the Knights.
The home team went on another slow march toward the end zone, getting there after eight plays and another 3 minutes with Jake Villa scoring the third of his four touchdowns from a yard out. Howard’s extra point made it 22-14 with 36 seconds left in the third quarter.
Rodriguez finally came to life, using a 57-yard run by Billy Hurst to get to the Las Lomas 6. Three runs up the middle by Myles Burton gained just three yards and backup quarterback Hashim Boyd was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the 3 after gaining just 1 yard.
The Knights didn’t score on their next drive, but did the next best thing as far as their fans are concerned — going 59 yards on 12 plays, eating up more than 5 minutes before having to punt.
Rodriguez next possession lasted just two plays as Boyd had the ball stripped after appearing to be one broken tackle from taking it the distance.
Two plays later, Villa spun out of two tackles to go 43 yards for a touchdown that iced the game.
Riggins was intercepted on Rodriguez’s next play and the Knights ran out the remaining 2 minutes.
Las Lomas ran 38 plays in the second half to just 15 for Rodriguez.
“We just came out flat,” Ott said. “It’s weird to pick up in the middle of the second quarter and go with a 7-minute time out (for halftime).”
The Mustangs host Fairfield on Friday.
Reach Paul Farmer at 425-4646 Ext. 264 or pfarmer@dailyrepublic.net.
Short URL: http://www.dailyrepublic.com/?p=85831
Posted by Paul Farmer
on Sep 10 2011.
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