GIULIANO ORSI, MITTY
Prep2Prep Student Contributor

September 17, 2016

SAN JOSE, CA - For the first time in nearly five years, Piedmont Hills earned a shutout on the gridiron, . The Pirates traveled to Mt. Pleasant and dominated the Cardinals, 41-0, pushing their record to 2-1 right before league play begins.

The Pirates were led by senior quarterback Alex Garcia, who went 22 of 31 for 243 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. Garcia also had three interceptions on the night, but Piedmont’s defense was able to bail him out each time he turned the ball over.

On the ground, the Pirates were led by brothers Donovan and Deonte Taylor. Donovan, who’s a senior, gained 38 yards on 13 carries, while his sophomore brother went for 46 yards on 5 carries.

“I got to win with my brother(s), and that’s always special to do. We just played with each other as a team and played with passion,” said Donovan after the game.

Mt. Pleasant – who now falls to 0-3 - not only struggled to gain enough yards to advance down the field, but their number of penalties also hampered them all night. All together, the Cardinals spurred 12 flags – much of which were either false starts when they had the ball, or encroachment calls when they were playing defense – that totaled to 65 penalty yards against them. This to go with their team total of -10 rushing yards on the night prompted them to struggle pushing the ball passed the 50 yard line during the entire game.

“We’re going to have to go back to the drawing board to get ourselves together as a team,” said Mt. Pleasant assistant coach Steven Avelar. “If we start doing that, then the penalties will start to disintegrate on their own.”

Piedmont scored on its first offensive play of the game, which was a 26-yard screen pass from Garcia to senior wideout Joquel Walker. Just two possessions later, following a Mt. Pleasant lost fumble, Garcia repeated the success in throwing another screen pass for a score, this time a 27-yarder to Deonte Taylor. However, with all three of Garcia’s interceptions coming in the second quarter, the Pirates failed to score again before the half.

Mt. Pleasant failed to capitalize on each of Piedmont’s turnovers, by adding two more turnovers of their own. Cardinals senior quarterback Richard Aquino was pulled in the middle of the second quarter, after going just four-of-seven for 27 yards and one interception. His replacement, sophomore Shawn Pacheco, also struggled the rest of the game, going four-of-15 for 35 yards and an interception.

Turnovers and penalties played a big part in the game in terms of notability, but didn’t truly affect the outcome. Along with the 65 penalty yards Mt. Pleasant had, Piedmont spurred 10 flags of its own for a whopping total of 110 yards. Piedmont also had more turnovers – five to Mt. Pleasant’s three – but the scoreboard proved the sloppiness of the game wasn’t a key factor in determining the victor.

In the second half, the Pirates came out even stronger. They added four more touchdowns to pull away and secure the shutout victory.

“We just wanted to do our stuff and play well, but we could’ve had a better night tonight," said Piedmont Hills coach Matt Kiesle, who also expressed happiness with the shutout. "The defense played great, and the offense got it together in the second half.”

Piedmont opens up their league play with a home match against Live Oak (3-0) on Friday, September 23.

Mt. Pleasant hopes to bounce back on the road versus Ann Sobrato (1-2) in a day game on Saturday, September 24.