Senior Nolan Gallagher ran for five touchdowns as Branham celebrated its 50th Anniversary Homecoming with a 46-22 win over Gunderson Friday night in a BVAL-Santa Teresa matchup.
Gallagher finished with 171 yards on 28 carries for the Bruins (6-2, 4-1 BVAL-ST), who pulled into a first-place tie in the division with the victory following Leland's loss to Willow Glen. Senior quarterback Tanner Scattini completed six of 11 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.
The game was a challenge for the Bruins on two counts. There were tons of activities surrounding the 50th anniversary of the school on Homecoming Week and Gunderson (2-6, 0-5) came into the game having not won any league games yet.
"Homecoming is always a distraction because there's always something going on besides football, said Branham head coach Nick Gardiner. "I definitely try to prep them about all the distractions and the entertainment going on. I like to say if there is no football game, there is no Homecoming - they kind of go hand in hand."
The Grizzlies have struggled in the BVAL-Santa Teresa Division, but kept the game close and were down just one score at halftime before the Bruins pulled away.
"Games like this you don't want to rest or think you've got it easy," said Gardiner. "We did a good job focusing on what we had to do and playing hard football and not worrying about the team we were playing."
Once again the key was the running game, as Gallagher ran wild yet again for the Bruins behind a sophomore-dominant offensive line. The starting offensive line featured three sophomores - Frank Poso, Ethan Norris and Sammy Aguirre - along with senior Izzy Velasquez and junior Evan Bartlett.
"We've had a lot of young kids step up and do well for us," said Gardiner, who also singled out sophomore defensive end Jake Herington and sophomore defensive end Carter Jones to go along with veteran seniors Kyle Loeffler and Mitchell Braun offensively and defensively.
"Being on offense I felt like they couldn't stop us so that gave us some peace," said Gardiner. "Defensively, we just had to make sure to continue to grind them out. Second half we kind of pulled away."
Branham is back in action Friday night at home against Del Mar (3-5, 3-2) while Gunderson (2-6, 0-5) hosts Leland (7-1, 4-1).
