WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — After months of battling against the clock to get a chance to play football again, the San Ramon Valley Wolves finally had time on their side for once.
Sure, the Las Lomas Knights had just erased a two-score lead in the fourth quarter, but they had to spend all of their timeouts in the process, leaving the Wolves completely in charge of the clock as they embarked on a game-winning drive over the final seven minutes, one that concluded with Caden Ridley’s 25-yard catch-and-run with 52 seconds left as the visitors escaped with a 35-28 win.
Ridley’s second touchdown of the game was the culmination of a 10-play, 72-yard drive in which San Ramon Valley (1-0) had complete control of the clock, utilized the short passing game and overcame a pair of long-yardage situations to escape with the win and make for a satisfying short drive home.
A hold wiped out what would have been a a 12-yard gain by quarterback Jack Quigley and set up a first-and-21, but Quigley escaped a sack and found running back Za’Darion Nardi on a screen to gain 10, then connected with sophomore receiver Caleb Padrid on a short route for 22 yards.
A sack by sophomore Alex Lisi on the next play set up a second-and-17, but a pass interference penalty on a deep ball for Padrid advanced the Wolves 15 yards and set up a three-yard gain by Nardi to move the sticks and put the Wolves on the precipice of field-goal range.
After a one-yard gain by Quigley, it was a checkdown to Ridley, who had found holes underneath the Knights defense throughout the evening, and a 25-yard scamper to put SRV ahead for good.
“We just kind of played what the game dictated and attacked where we felt we could make some positive yardage,” head coach Aaron Becker said of the final drive.
It was a drive in which Quigley, a junior quarterback with a year of experience as a starter already under his belt, was able to make the most out of time provided by a veteran offensive line. He repeatedly got the ball in the hands of players who had spent the prior year on the JV team as Nardi, Padrid and Ridley all stepped up in their first varsity games.
Nardi ran 13 times for 98 yards and found the end zone twice, Padrid, only a sophomore, had a team-high six catches and led all receivers with 97 yards and Ridley scored both the first and last touchdowns of the game.
Las Lomas (0-1) got similarly impressive contributions from underclassmen skill players, with quarterback Dimond Loosli throwing for a pair of touchdowns in his first career start, sophomore Emmanuel Karnley forcing and recovering a fumble and Jermaine Land finding the end zone as a rusher, receiver and kick returner to help the Knights come back to tie the game on three separate occasions after the Wolves had taken the lead.
There would be no fourth comeback in the final minute, though. Loosli hit Lisi for a 13-yard catch-and-run, but a pair of incompletions and a last-ditch effort for Land to get underneath the defense would spell the end of the road for a Las Lomas team that came up just short but was able to maintain perspective.
“We had our opportunities and we didn’t finish,” Las Lomas head coach Doug Longero said. “We’re young, but we’re pretty decent, and it’s fun to just have an opportunity to play football after everything.”
Loosli went toe-to-toe with Quigley for much of the night after an early deep pass was tipped and intercepted by Joshua Johnson. He finished 17-of-31 for 235 yards and willed his team back from 14 points down.
With the Wolves already up seven late in the third, a Tyler Hoffman sack forced a turnover on downs and set the visitors up at the 20. They made the most of their field position with a four-yard touchdown run to the right side by Nardi, who found tremendous success when running to the outside.
“My linemen set up good blocks to set the edge,” the junior explained.
Frustrated but undeterred, the Knights came right back with a 38-yard pass from Loosli to Jabre Bevineau, who had a game-high seven catches for 89 yards. They found paydirt with 10:16 remaining on Land’s two-yard touchdown run.
That momentum carried over to the defense as Marco Balestrieri forced a fumble that took the Wolves back to their own 5 and set up a short field following a punt. The hosts needed just one play to take advantage as Loosli connected with Tyler Heinan for a 30-yard score to tie the game.
Still, with control of the clock and a stellar line led by Kyle Ecker and Jackson Brown, there was no need for San Ramon Valley to panic.
The Wolves also had the advantage of San Diego State commit JP Murphy, and while he never got the ball on the final drive, his presence alone forced the Las Lomas defense to constantly send double-teams at him, opening windows up for the rest of the offense.
Coming away with the win made the evening all the more rewarding for Murphy, who, unlike many of his counterparts with Division I scholarships, wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to play high school ball one last time, even in a delayed and truncated season.
“I was just dead set on getting back out here,” he said. “I love this game so much.”
Murphy had three catches for 65 yards, including a pair of excellent grabs along the sideline, and recovered a fumble in the first quarter to set up the game’s opening score, a 38-yard pass from Quigley to Ridley.
Las Lomas got on the board less than two minutes into the second quarter on an 11-yard catch-and-run by Land, but the Wolves responded with a 27-yard reception on third-and-16 from a tightly covered Murphy to set up Nardi’s first career touchdown, a three-yard run.
That’s when Land responded with the play of the night, getting a block and returning the ensuing kickoff 83 yards before being chased down by the defense. He then dragged those defenders and a few of his teammates for the last five yards for a touchdown that would ultimately send the teams into the half tied at 14.
“He had a heck of a game,” Longero said.
Land finished with 229 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns while Loosli went 17-of-31 for two scores and 235 yards, allowing Las Lomas to stay in the fight the entire way despite a stellar game from Quigley, who finished 19-of-28 for 299 yards and ran nine times for 47 yards, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for a third.
The Wolves will host Bishop O’Dowd next Saturday while the Knights will open up DAL Foothill play with a short trip to Acalanes (1-0).
