GIULIANO ORSI, MITTY
Prep2Prep Student Contributor

November 6, 2016

SAN JOSE - Gunderson claimed its first league title since 2002, securing the 51-42 victory against Overfelt when Isaiah Guzman hauled in an 11-yard scoring pass from quarterback Joseph Catano, with just over four minutes remaining in the game. The win forced a three-way tie for the BVAL-West Valley title, which includes Overfelt. It also clinched a playoff berth for the Grizzlies.

The Grizzly offense was led by Catano, who threw for 174 yards and four touchdowns along with two interceptions on 9-of-16 passing. Catano has had success on the ground all season, and added another rushing touchdown on the night as well.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been in the playoffs, so it’s really exciting,” said Catano. “Once we started getting things going, and Guzman stepped up, we were able to hold out for the win.”

The senior quarterback’s favorite target was Guzman, who had four catches for 55 yards and three receiving touchdowns. Like Catano, Guzman also added a touchdown from the ground as well. Gunderson did struggle with the run throughout most of the game, but whenever a Grizzly found a hole, they were able to burst out for a big gain. Junior tailback Tyerinn Pollard had just 13 carries, but through a few huge plays he finished with 166 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown run.

“Overfelt was so determined to stop our inside running game, which helped us hurt them on the outside,” said Gunderson head coach Chuck Ball. All together, the Grizzlies racked up 492 yards on the offensive side of the ball.

The Royals didn’t struggle on the offensive side either. 5’8” senior Moses Barajas proved that you don’t have to be big to make big plays from the quarterback position. Barajas went 15 of 34 for 248 yards including two rushing touchdowns. Overfelt had its most success when it came to rushing the football, where senior tailback Devaughn Johnson went for 101 yards on 26 carries with three touchdowns.

“Our defense struggled tonight, but offensively we were able to get the ball rolling,” said Overfelt head coach Carlo Maningo. “We had trouble reading blitzes, but our guys stepped up almost every time.”

The entire game in itself was incredibly action packed. Right from the gates, the visiting Grizzlies got on the board from the first Catano-to-Guzman touchdown, but the Royals answered back right away. This back and forth tempo seemed to play out for most of the game. An interesting style to the Royal offense is their risk-taking plays, which includes consistently attempting two-point conversions after each score.

This helped them earn their only leads of the game, but proved to be less effective in the second half. Going into halftime, the Grizzlies held a 21-16 lead. The third quarter was when Gunderson was able to break open the game, starting with their defense forcing a safety. Although Catano would then throw a pick-six, the Grizzlies would then score two unanswered touchdowns, one being a 20-yard run by Guzman and the other being the huge 81-yard sprint by Johnson.

Barajas tried to bring the Royals back into the game on a rushing score of his own, but then Catano responded with a 2-yard punch-in on the following Grizzly possession. In the fourth quarter, the Royals put up an impressive comeback, when Johnson scored his third rushing touchdown and Barajas ran for his second back-to-back. However, Overfelt failed on their 2-pt conversion, making it 44-42 in favor of Gunderson going into the last few minutes of the game. After the final Guzman touchdown reception, the rest was history.

“It’s a big turn-around,” said coach Ball. “These seniors lost every single game their freshman year, had a rough year sophomore year, and did okay last year. Now, they’ve come to their potential.”

With the win, the Grizzlies are headed to their first ever trip to the CCS playoffs, and secured their first league title in 14 years with the 3-way tie.

The loss was disappointing to Overfelt, who was hoping for the outright league title and guaranteed trip to the playoffs.

“It’s a really tough loss for our kids,” said coach Maningo. “Our mentality is keep grinding. If we’re in, we’ll be more focused this week than ever.”