Willow Glen Resident

Sports

Thrilling win for Willow Glen in CCS playoffs finals

By Brad Wall

Andy Penwarden was facing the biggest decision of the season.
His Willow Glen football team was down 38-37 in overtime, but only a few yards away from making history and completing a three-year goal.

"We talked about it earlier in the week," said Penwarden. "When you're the visiting team and you have the ball second [in overtime] and you have a chance to win it ... go for two."

While fans of both teams roared in approval of Willow Glen's do-or-die call, it was the Rams who had the last hurrah as their star running back Marcos Garces punched in the two-point conversion, giving his team a thrilling 39-38 overtime victory over Menlo School in the first round of the Central Coast Section Small School Division playoffs.

"We were nervous and all sweating," said Willow Glen quarterback Juan Barron of the mood in the huddle before the two-point attempt. "This was our season; we said 'if we don't get this, we're done.' "

It had been Barron's 1-yard sneak on fourth down for the touchdown that brought the Rams to within one point of tying the Knights and forcing a second overtime.

"Those kids got it done," said Penwarden. "They set up this whole journey 748 days ago when they were sophomores. They set the goal of winning the league championship and winning the first playoff game in Willow Glen history."

With their stated goal complete, the Rams now have a chance to build on their historic run as they take on the Pacific Grove Breakers in the CCS semifinals. The Rams (10-1) will face the Breakers (9-2) on Nov. 25, 3 p.m., at San José City College.

"We've had this goal since sophomore year. We talked about it and dreamed about it, and to reach that goal ... it's indescribable," said Garces.

Coming into the game with more than 1,600 yards rushing and 29 touchdowns, Garces was the definition of "workhorse" for the Rams as he carried the ball 29 times for 179 tough yards in the win over Menlo.

"He's the hardest working guy in the program; we built this team around him," said Penwarden. "There was no question. We knew who was getting the ball--everybody knew."

The Rams were trailing 21-17 with just over eight minutes left in the game when they got the ball at their 40-yard-line.

Even though there were eight minutes left in the game, given the Rams' pounding style there was a good chance they might not have another chance to score.

Slowly and methodically, the Rams hammered away at the Knights defense using Garces and fullback Anthony Doan to chisel away yards.

The drive truly displayed the heart and desire of the Rams players as they converted one third down and two fourth downs, including a four-yard pass from Barron to Findeisen in fourth-and-three situation and a four-yard run by Barron on fourth-and-two.

With 2:03 left in the game, Barron punched the ball in from the 2-yard-line to cap a 15-play, 59-yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock and gave the Rams a 24-21 lead.

It was then Menlo quarterback Andrew Dixon's time to shine as he had a chance to live out every kid's back yard fantasy.

The Knights got the ball at their 25-yard-line with 1:56 left and Dixon proceeded to expertly carve up the Rams defense.

After a great defensive play by Willow Glen cornerback Sam Canchola, the Knights were facing a fourth-and-five from the Rams 47-yard-line. Unfortunately for the Rams, they weren't able to contain Dixon on the next play as he hit Ricky Hawkins for an 11-yard gain.

Four plays later, running back Jack Mosbacher slammed into the end zone, and with 50 seconds left in the game, the Knights had a 28-24 lead and an apparent victory.

Starting from their own 30 with 46 seconds left in the game, the Rams didn't have enough time for their ground-and-pound style. If they were going to win, Barron would have to make a play through the air.

After a seven-yard pass to Eliseo Anaya, Barron dropped back and heaved a pass down the left sideline to Anaya, who had a step on the cornerback.

"We've been working on that play all year and only got it once," said Barron. "I was really nervous. I just stepped up and let it go."

Anaya caught the pass in stride and streaked into the end zone for a 63-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left, giving the Rams a 31-28 lead.

The Knights had one last chance.

With no timeouts, the Knights started at their and Dixon displayed Tom Brady-like poise as he completed three straight passes to set up the game-tying 33-yard field goal as time expired.

Overtime rules in the CCS playoffs are similar to those in the NCAA. Both teams would get four plays from the 10-yard-line to try to score and with the Rams winning the coin toss; they decided to put the pressure on the Knights to score first.

After two incomplete passes, Dixon hit Hawkins for a 10-yard touchdown pass and a 38-31 lead.

The Rams then got their shot which culminated in Barron's quarterback sneak and Garces' historic two-point conversion.

Both teams provided a fascinating dichotomy of styles as the Knights balanced spread offense was pitted against the Rams power rushing attack.

Like a great prize fight, the game started slowly before building into its frenzied crescendo, with both teams putting zero's on the board in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, the Knights drove down to the Rams 18-yard-line and were threatening, but Canchola intercepted Dixon's pass at the 2-yard-line preserving the scoreless duel.

The Rams ensuing drive was bogged down and it only took the Knights three plays to make up for their earlier mistake.

With 4:05 left in the second quarter, Dixon hit Anthony Bouvier on a quick slant pass and Bouvier did the rest as he raced 61 yards through the Rams secondary for a 7-0 lead.

After trading stops, the Rams got the ball back with 48 seconds left in the half. Behind the strong blocking of Greg Garrity, Jose Gutierrez, Luke Ahmed and the rest of the offensive line, Garces was able to move the ball 42 yards down the field into field goal range.

Needing to get some points on the board before the half, Bobby Lopez drilled a 36-yard field goal as time expired in the first half-cutting the Knight lead to 7-3.

Thanks to the efforts of Findeisen, Justin Fuller, Uriel Basilo, Matt Reiton and the rest of the Rams defense, the first half was a defensive struggle. However, the second half was a completely different story.

At first it appeared the second half would bring more defense as the Rams started off bottled up at their own 10-yard-line.

With the Knights keying on Garces, the Rams ran a reverse on the third play of their first drive in the second half and wide receiver Mike Gibilisco raced 87 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

The Knights high-powered attack started to kick into gear as they answered the Rams score with a six-play 67-yard drive capped off by a 31-yard touchdown strike to Ricky Hawkins with 4:21 left in the third quarter.

Undaunted, the Rams took off on a bruising 10-play, 80-yard drive--highlighted by a 17-yard dash by Garces and a 32-yard run by Gibilisco--capped off by a 11-yard touchdown pass to Findeisen on fourth down.

Entering the fourth quarter with a 17-14 lead, the Rams defense wasn't able to stop the Knights as Menlo took the opening drive of the fourth quarter 60 yards in just seven plays with Dixon hitting Hawkins for a 8-yard touchdown and a 21-17 lead.

Barron went 7 for 13 for 127 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, and Gibilisco finished with four carries for 122 yards and one touchdown.