GIULIANO ORSI, MITTY
Prep2Prep Student Contributor

September 2, 2017

SARATOGA, CA - It had been a grind of a game all night long, but Silver Creek was finally in striking distance of taking over for the win. With the game tied with 19.6 seconds left to play, Gabby Gonzalez of the visiting Raiders stepped up for an 18-yard field goal try.

They had intercepted a Falcons pass just minutes prior, giving them an opportunity to close it out. It went up, and it was good, capping off a thrilling 41-38 victory for Silver Creek over Saratoga. The Raiders had been down by as much as 21 points during the game, but they crawled their way back and found a way to close the gap. Gonzales had just become, last week, the first girl in Silver Creek football history to kick an extra point try. This time, it was a crunch time play, and she got the job done.

The entire game was filled with big play after big play. The big road win gives the Raiders a 2-0 start in non-league play, while the Falcons fall to 0-2. The biggest difference were three game-changing turnovers by the Falcons that kept Silver Creek alive.

Both sides showed their fare share of offensive domination, with Saratoga being led by gunslinger Nikolas Rositano and wideout Harrison Fong, and Silver Creek being led by Alejandro Flores and running back Jayson Vien. The two teams banged heads throughout the whole game, rattling up an impressive amount of total yards. However, it looked from early on that the hosting Falcons were not going to let up. Yet, Flores and Vien led a surge of a second-half charge that included three touchdowns, two field goals, and 34 total points to complete the comeback.

“The biggest change was intensity,” said Flores after the win. “It took something to humble us. In that second half, we just came out with full power.”

Flores did his job, going 7 of 15 for 91 yards and two touchdowns. His running mate, Vien, racked up 184 yards on 18 carries, averaging over 10 yards per carry. There was nothing fancy in what the Raiders did to win, but they simply capitalized on opportunities in the last two quarters, which allowed them to inch their way back. It wasn’t easy, as Rositano and Fong of the Falcons had been trotting all over the Raider defense. In total, Rositano completed 34 of 45 passes – 76% completion rate – for 389 yards, five touchdowns, and one crucial interception. Fong caught 10 of Rositano’s passes, totaling 167 yards and three touchdowns. It was a pass versus run shootout, and by the end of it all, it really could have gone either way.

“I think if we would have come out harder in the second half it would have been a different game,” said Rositano. “We gotta find a way to get better each week, and push forward.”

The Falcons had started out scorching hot. They rattled off 21 consecutive points right out of the gates, with the last score of the bunch being a 53-yard run-after-catch by Fong. The Raiders finally scrapped together a touchdown, with Flores finding Ajaypal Singh for a 13-yard passing score with under a minute to play in the first half. The Falcons got a field goal to open up the second half scoring, followed by a big burst of a 48-yard run from Silver Creek’s Vien in response.

Each time the Raiders gained some ground, Saratoga would widen the gap again. Rositano hit a wide-open Fong for a 45-yard bomb that stretched to lead out to 31-14 in favor of the home team. The last thing the Raiders wanted was for the deficit to get worse, and Vien was able to stop the bleeding quick on the first play of the fourth quarter with a 33-yard touchdown run.

“Being able to establish the run in the second half was huge,” said Raiders coach Eric Luescher.

Immediately after, the Falcons fumbled the kick-return, setting up a Raider field goal to make it a one score game for the first time since 7-0. Yet, the teams kept trading blows, as Rositano hit Charles Debling for a 20-yard score, and Vien capped off a short Raider drive with a 2-yard goal line punch-in. Again, like sudden repeated history, the kick-return would be fumbled by the Falcons, setting up a 20-yard touchdown throw by Flores to Tre Albright to tie the game at 38 with under five minutes to play.

With plenty of time to play, and Rositano having a career game, it looked like the Falcons were not going to let this one slip. On the second play in the following Saratoga drive, Rositano flung a pass down the middle of the field that was picked off by Kiet Trang. After eating up Silver Creek’s secondary all night long, one poor decision cost Rositano the game.

“When you play a team and you give them extra possessions during a game, it’s gonna come back to haunt you,” said Falcons Coach Tim Lugo. “[Silver Creek] got some momentum and were able to keep drives alive and that’s how they formed their comeback.”

With good starting position, the Raiders ate up the rest of clock and Gonzales finished the game off with the clutch chip-in.

“I have coached for over 25 years and as far as I know, Gabby Gonzales is the only girl to score a point in a varsity game,” said Luescher. “Last week, her extra point was the winning extra point, and now she has the winning field goal.”

The Raiders hope to keep the momentum rolling, as they host rival Evergreen Valley (0-2) next Friday night to cap off non-league play.

The Falcons hope to find a win next week, when they travel to Santa Teresa for their final game before league play.