Almaden Resident
Sports
Photograph by Diana Diroy
Breaking Up: Pioneer defenders gang up on Oak Grove's Regis Ward to break up a pass in last Saturday's clash between the two teams. The Mustangs put together a solid second half, but lost 41-18 to the powerful Eagles.
Big second half not enough for Mustangs
By Kevin Sparrer
There's no greater feeling in football than stopping a team from punching in a touchdown from the 1-yard-line--except for maybe stopping the No. 1 team in the area twice at the 1-yard-line and then taking the ball 99 yards back the other way for a touchdown of your own.
The Pioneer Mustangs did just that against the Oak Grove Eagles last Saturday. The undefeated Eagles pressed deep into Mustang territory, but Pioneer held strong on two straight plays less to keep Oak Grove out of the end zone. Then the Mustangs took the ball 99 yards on 11 plays, quarterback Chris Foley capping the drive when he connected with Nico Pagan on a 5-yard touchdown pass. The biggest play of the drive was when Foley connected with Matt Montelongo on a 21-yard pass to bring the ball out of Mustang territory.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, though, the final score was 41-18. Still, the game was much closer than the score shows. After trailing 28-3 entering the second half, Pioneer fought back to bring the score to 28-18 before a couple of mistakes late in the game cost the Mustangs an opportunity for a big upset.
The loss left Pioneer 3-3 in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League and in need of a victory if the Mustangs have hopes of advancing to the Central Coast Section playoffs. That win won't come easy, though, since the Mustangs will visit powerhouse Piedmont Hills on Nov. 9, 7 p.m.
Oak Grove (6-0, 8-0-1) has clinched the division title and the Pirates forced a second-place tie last week with a 34-7 win over Leigh. The Bucs and Longhorns have matching 4-2 league records, and Pioneer shares third place with Lincoln, both clubs at 3-3. Live Oak also moved into that third-place tie thanks to a forfeit win over Branham.
The top four teams in the division earn automatic CCS berths, and Oak Grove, Leigh and Piedmont Hills have secured three of the spots. Pioneer needs to beat the Pirates and hope for the Acorns to fall to first-place Oak Grove to claim an automatic spot. The Mustangs lost to Live Oak in league play, so the nod would go to the Acorns if the two clubs end in a tie. Lincoln is not a factor since the Lions will opt out of the playoffs to keep their Thanksgiving Day date with San Jose Academy.
Against Oak Grove, Pioneer's best run came after intermission. The Mustangs were able to hold Oak Grove scoreless for the entire third quarter and even bring the game within 10.
"They made a game out of it," said Pioneer head coach Mark Krail of his Mustangs. "Our defense played great. We defended the run very well and we had a strong goal line stand and then went 99 yards."
"We ran the ball, threw the ball and converted on third downs," he added. "Oak Grove knew they had a game."
The second score for the Mustangs came in the beginning of the fourth quarter when Marquee Heffner ran the ball in from six yards out with Steven Lopes running in for the two-point conversion. The touchdown was set up on a 40-yard run by Shane Murray, followed by a 30-yard pass from Foley to tight end Travis Lorius.
Kyle Burchfiel was the first to score for the Mustangs when he kicked a 41-yard field goal in the first quarter with plenty of leg to spare.
It was Murray who dominated the running game for the Mustangs, taking the ball in hand 18 times for 87 yards. Heffner had 10 carries for 45 yards in the loss.
Pioneer was also forced to go to the air quite a few times and accomplished the task well. Foley completed 14 of 20 passes for 153 yards. Lorius was his main receiver, catching five passes for 77 yards. Lopes caught three passes for 22 yards and Montelongo caught two for 34. Pagan only caught one pass for six yards, but it happened to be the first Mustang touchdown.
"We gave Oak Grove several short fields," said Krail. "They are too good to do that."
"We made some adjustments at halftime," he said. "I'm proud of these guys--they're resilient; they really bounced back."
Defensively it was Jordan Barnes who led the Mustangs with 11 stops, including the only two quarterback sacks for Pioneer. Pagan, Burchfiel and Stanley White all had seven tackles while Ryan Victor had six.
Pagan also blocked an extra point while Lopes and Pierre Woods each had fumble recoveries.
