Saratoga News

Sports

Falcons pull out thrilling win over Live Oak

By Dick Sparrer

Keon Ghafouri wasn't quite sure if he was supposed to be in the game, and he wanted to be certain--after all, the Saratoga Falcons were facing a pretty big play.

The Falcons had fought back from a 21-7 deficit against Live Oak on Friday afternoon, and faced a crucial second-and-goal at the Acorns' 10-yard line with less than a minute left to play.

So that last thing Ghafouri wanted was for the Falcons to get flagged for having too many men on the field. He started off the field, then paused to count the number of players left behind. When he only counted 10, he hustled back to his place as the wide receiver on the left side of the field.

Seconds later he was on the receiving end of a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kevin Sieczkarek, and Saratoga sat on the verge of pulling off one of the most amazing comebacks in recent memory.

Moments after hitting Ghafouri with the important TD pass, Sieczkarek took an option and ducked into the end zone behind the left side of the Saratoga line to pick up the two-point conversion and ultimately a brilliant 22-21 come-from-behind win for the Falcons.

"I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be in," said Ghafouri moments after the victory. "I just picked a route and went with it."

Ghafouri ran a quick slant over the middle, and Sieczkarek's pass was right on target. The touchdown cut the Live Oak lead to 21-20 with just 43.2 seconds left in the game, and there was never a doubt in head coach Kurt Heinrich's mind whether or not to go for two.

"Heck, we want to win," said Heinrich. "Hey, it's either win or lose for somebody."

So they went for two, and Sieczkarek shot in behind tackle David Pignatelli and guard Bennett Rothenberg on the left side to put the Falcons on top. But they hadn't won the game yet.

Live Oak ran back the ensuing kick-off 31 yards to its own 46, then completed a 27-yard pass to the Saratoga 27. The Acorns were only about 10 yards away from potentially kicking a game-winning field goal.

Gabe Essner, though, seemed to have other ideas.

The junior linebacker was all over the Live Oak quarterback Chris Nicholls for the next three plays. He sacked the Acorn passer for a four-yard loss, then hammered him as he barely got off a second-down pass. After getting up slowly, Nicholls took the next snap and again dropped back to pass. But once more Essner was in his face, forcing him to break out of the pocket. Essner caught Nicholls from behind, causing a fumble that Saratoga's Sean Casserly recovered to seal the win.

"I was just trying to blitz in the B gap, and I saw the quarterback the entire game," said Essner. "I just did my job and I was able to get to the quarterback."

"He's a tough kid," said Heinrich of the junior transfer. "He's done a great job for us."

Essner was just one of the many Saratoga defensive stars in the thrilling victory. It was the defense that kept the Falcons in the game until the offense could get untracked in the final minutes of play.

"(Defensive coordinator) Kevin Tanner does a great job with the defense," said Heinrich. "They did a good enough job for us to win today."

Led by Zack Kowitz, Essner and Casserly, the Saratoga defense held Live Oak to just one touchdown in the first half while the offense sputtered for the Falcons. Saratoga could manage just two first downs in the first two periods.

It didn't get much better in the third quarter. Live Oak scored again to lead 14-0, and the Falcons added just one more first down.

The Acorns showed little respect for the Saratoga offense, faking a punt in their own half of the field but coming up short, turning the ball over on downs at their own 46.

"That was a mistake," said former Saratoga head coach Benny Pierce as he stood on the Falcons' sidelines. And his words would later seem prophetic.

Sieczkarek made Live Oak pay for the "mistake" by keeping the ball on the option three straight times for 19, 12 and 15 yards, the third run going for a touchdown. Nick May kicked the extra point, and the Falcons trailed just 14-7.

But the Acorns answered right back. Kevin Abbott, who ran for 149 yards and scored all three Live Oak touchdowns, took off on a 50-yard touchdown run, and it was 21-7 with 8:10 left in the game. When Live Oak recovered a fumble on the ensuing kick-off, it seemed to be all but over for the Falcons.

Ghafouri and Nick Shehtonian stepped up with key defensive plays, though, and Live Oak turned the ball over on downs at the Saratoga 29 with 6:13 left to play. It would turn out to be six of the biggest minutes in Saratoga's recent football history.

Hard-running senior Brian Dowdle picked up a first down, but after a 10-yard run by Sieczkarek came up inches short of another first, the Falcons were flagged for holding. Facing a fourth-and-10 at his own 40, Sieczkarek completed an 11-yard pass to Bo Nielsen for a key first down, and Dowdle ran 12 more to the Live Oak 37.

"He was hungry, and he really got after it," said Heinrich of Dowdle, who carried six times for 31 yards in the second half.

Dowdle ran for six more before Sieczkarek found Lenny Liccardo for 17 yards to the 14. On the next play, Sieczkarek hit UC-Berkeley-bound Alex Lagemann with a short pass, and the talented senior put a big move on the cornerback to get into the end zone. May's kick cut the lead to 21-14 with 2:52 left.

Saratoga desperately needed the ball back, though. And the Falcons got it in a hurry when Danny Miroyan recovered the onside kick, and Saratoga was in business again at the Live Oak 46.

A 15-yard run by Jeff Frederickson was the big play on the drive that took the Falcons to the 10-yard line before Sieczkarek tossed to Ghafouri for the final touchdown.

Sieczkarek ended up hitting on 5 of 20 passes for 74 yards and the two touchdowns, and he was the Saratoga ground leader with 80 yards on 15 carries.

"In the first half, he wasn't very good at all," said Heinrich. "But in the second half, he was awesome."

Matt Casas shared the quarterback duties, completed 2 of 5 passes for 40 yards.

Lagemann led all receivers with three grabs for 54 yards. Ghafouri caught two for 32 and Liccardo and Nielsen had a catch apiece. Frederickson finished with 55 yards on six carries, working behind a line of Pignatelli, Rothenberg, Jake Burne, Sean Nasiri and Kowitz.

Kowitz was the defensive leader for the Falcons with 11 tackles, three for losses and one of them a quarterback sack. Essner had a sack among his seven tackles and Casserly was in on six tackles. Matt Keating, Kourosh Asahdel, Nasiri, Shehtonian, Miroyan and Steven Walker were in on four tackles each. Walker also recovered a fumble and Frederickson intercepted a pass.

Ghafouri, Mat Spencer, Peter Florence, Dowdle, Scott McKenzie, Rothenberg and Andrew Pei were also in on tackles for the Falcons.

Saratoga, now 2-0 in the young season, will travel to Hillsdale on Sept. 16, 1:30 p.m., to take on the Knights.