The Sunnyvale Sun

Sports

Firebirds hit .500 with clutch win over Vikes

By Brad Wall

After being crushed by Los Altos, the Fremont Firebirds sat at 1-5 for the season and looked like a team that would be lucky to score a touchdown let alone win a game.

However, the Firebirds turned around their season with a three-game win streak, starting with a victory over Gunn, and were poised to finish the season with a .500 record--the only thing standing in their way was Lynbrook, also looking to finish the season at .500.

In a thrilling back and forth contest which saw two ties and five lead changes, both teams' hopes came down to one play.

When Greg Wallis' pass fell incomplete from the Fremont 8-yard-line as time expired, it was the Firebirds who got to celebrate as they capped off an incredible turnaround to their season by holding on against the Vikings 26-23.

"It's phenomenal," said Firebird head coach Ron DeMonner. "When you think that we were 1-5, that's like trying to turn around the Queen Mary. But the kids did it--they turned it around."

Down 21-20 with 7:15 left in the game, the Firebirds used their successful formula of sharing the ball as Patrick Washington and R.J. Rivera mixed with big plays by Kenny Pope to move the ball down to the Viking 15-yard-line.

The Vikings defense stiffened, though, forcing the Firebirds into a do-or-die fourth down from the 15.

With their season on the line, quarterback Kevin Woods rolled left and fired a pass into the end zone that bounced off defensive back Bryan Snyder and right into the waiting hands of Pope for the go-ahead touchdown.

After failing on the two-point conversion, the Firebirds had a 26-21 lead with 2:51 left in the game. However the Vikings, as they have done all season, kept fighting.

Starting from their own 40-yard-line, the Vikings used running back Scott Day to pound down to the Firebirds 24-yard-line.

With just over a minute left in the game, Wallis heaved a pass to the Fremont 5, only to have Pope streak across the field for his third, and apparently game-clinching, interception.

"All the quarterback did was throw it up and I was thinking, 'Please, God let me catch this,' " said Pope.

After being unable to move the ball from their own 5-yard-line, the Firebirds took an intentional safety with 49 seconds left.

After the free kick, the Vikings got the ball at their 45 with just over 40 seconds to play and no timeouts remaining.

On the second play of the drive Snyder got some measure of redemption as he caught a 40-yard pass from Wallis, taking the ball down to the Fremont 15.

After a spike and an incomplete pass, Wallis tried to hit Emre Titizer on a slant pass on third down.

Although the pass was incomplete, a pass interference call against Fremont gave the Vikings one last play at the 8-yard-line and one last chance for the victory; however, Wallis' final attempt fell short.

Both teams were facing adverse circumstances heading into the match-up. Firebirds quarterback/cornerback Daunte Mills was a late scratch and Vikings leading rusher, running back Kevin Rahbar, missed the game due to injury.

Fortunately for both teams, they had more than capable backups.

Woods didn't even know he would be starting until pre-game warm-ups. Nevertheless, Woods played a great game, going 10 for 16 for 186 yards with two touchdown passes and one interception.

For the Vikings, the combination of Day and Matt Kemp filled the void left by Rahbar as they both hammered through the Firebirds defense. Day had 10 carries for 68 yards and one catch for a 17-yard touchdown, while Kemp had eight carries for 59 yards and one touchdown.

"We missed his presence tonight," said Viking head coach Ray Wright of Rahbar. "We had to overcome his absence and get it done, but it didn't happen."

However, the star of the game was Pope.

Pope was dominant on both sides of the ball. He had four carries for 33 yards, four catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns, and three interceptions on defense.

The Firebirds started off by pounding the ball behind Ray Trevino, Juan Escamilla, Francisco Quintana, George Tran and Jonathan Magliulo as they opened up the game with a 65-yard, nine-play drive, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Rivera.

"Nobody ever really stopped our running game all year, and that's a testament to our offensive linemen," said DeMonner. "They did a great job all year."

A botched punt in the second quarter gave the Vikings the ball at the Firebirds 4-yard-line and two plays later Wallis surged ahead for a 1-yard touchdown run, making the score 7-7.

That set up a wild sequence in which three touchdowns were scored in a minute.

With 5:11 left in the second quarter, Woods hit Pope on a short crossing route and Pope did the rest as he raced for a 50-yard touchdown.

It only took the Vikings two plays to respond as Kemp ripped off a 44-yard touchdown run through the heart of the Fremont defense, tying the game 14-14.

On the ensuing kick-off, Alex Hargrove received the kick-off at the 5-yard-line, made a nice move at the 30 and then raced down the field for a 95-yard touchdown and a 20-14 lead.

Later, Day took a shovel pass from Wallis through the defense for a 17-yard touchdown which gave the Vikings a 21-20 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Rivera had a great game for the Firebirds with 14 carries for 94 yards. Washington added 60 yards on 13 carries and made one of the biggest plays in the game when he recovered a fumble by Woods to keep their game winning drive alive.

In addition to Pope, Jonathan Karabats also had a good game, making three catches for 68 yards.

"He's got a great set of hands and is a really fine possession receiver. I wasn't smart enough to play him at receiver earlier in the year, but he'll catch everything in sight," said DeMonner.

"I'd like to thank the seniors," said Pope as he basked in the glow of the Senior Night victory. "If they weren't here, we would have nothing."