Willow Glen Resident
Sports
Cukar leads Del Mar to victory over Rams
By Kevin Sparrer
Anthony Cukar had the magic touch when he led Del Mar to a 34-13 win over Willow Glen with 20 passes for 240 yards.
Cukar picked apart the Willow Glen defense, connecting with six different receivers throughout the game and throwing three touchdown passes to help the Dons to the non-league win on Sept. 22, helping them complete a perfect 3-0 preseason after a winless year in 2006.
"Cukar is growing," said Del Mar head coach Eric Buran. "He did a good job distributing the ball to different players. It's another step in the process."
Cukar had good protection throughout the course of the game, standing behind his offensive line of Steven Lee at left tackle, Creed Black at left guard, Curtis Nielson at center, Lee Mayberry at right guard and Logan Lijon at right tackle.
The Dons jumped out to a strong lead, scoring two touchdowns before Willow Glen was able to take the ball into the end zone. But the Rams made an attempt at a comeback when Marcus Findeisen connected with Ricky Huynh on a 40-yard touchdown pass with 2:03 left in the first half. Nathan Kadlecek kicked the extra point that cut the score to 14-7. The touchdown was set up by a 33-yard kickoff return by Dalton Bond.
But Del Mar wasn't finished yet and scored again before the end of the half when Cukar hit Anthony Diaz with a 22-yard touchdown pass. Though the kick failed, the Dons went up 20-7, a lead that turned out to be enough to take down the Rams.
Del Mar's first touchdown of the second half came when Cukar found Bob Schooler open for the score. Then Cukar hit Michael Toso for the two-point conversion and the Dons extended their lead to 28-7.
With less than two minutes left in the game, the Rams were attempting to start a drive when Del Mar's Kevin Kapchuk picked off a pass at the Willow Glen 23-yard line and took it all the way back for the Dons' final touchdown. The kick failed, but the Dons had again extended their lead, this time to 34-7.
The Rams had a little more success on their next drive when, after the kickoff went out of bounds and Willow Glen took over on its own 35-yard line, Mike Gibilisco broke free of the Del Mar defense and went 65 yards for the touchdown. The kick failed, and the scoring ended at 34-13 in favor of the Dons.
The first Del Mar touchdown was a pass from Cukar to Jordan Richardson from 14 yards out, and the second came on a six-yard run by Toso. Cukar connected with Stephen Salerno for the two-point conversion after the second score.
Though Salerno did not score any of the touchdowns for the Dons, he was the favorite receiver of Cukar, catching seven passes for 107 yards. Stanislao caught five passes for 41 yards, Schooler had three catches for 43, Diaz caught two for 28, Toso received two passes for seven, and Richardson caught one for 14.
Toso was the majority of the running game for the Dons, carrying the ball 15 times for 81 yards. Salerno also did his fair share, taking the ball in hand eight times for 21 yards. David Gillette also took the ball twice for 21 yards.
Defensively, it was all Thomas Johnson, who was in on six tackles, three of them quarterback sacks totaling 21 negative yards for the Ram offense.
Samir Sabic was also a force on the defense with six stops, including a sack for a 10-yard loss.
Kapchuk had three stops and picked off a pass, while Kevin Dunn and Cory Sullivan each had two tackles and an interception apiece. Richardson also had an interception in the win.
"The seniors are taking a leadership role," said Buran. "It's a step in the maturity process of learning. It's all about mental toughness. We are getting better so we can compete for four quarters."
The Dons will open their Blossom Valley Athletic League Santa Teresa Division season this week, hosting Gunderson on Sept. 29 at 1:30 p.m.
As for the Rams, the offense struggled a bit, with both scores coming on big plays. Though Willow Glen had some long drives, the Rams were unable to finish them with touchdowns. Huynh was the go-to running back, taking the ball in hand 11 times for 53 yards. He also caught three passes from Findeisen for 58 yards.
Findeisen struggled to throw the ball against the effective Del Mar defense, completing only 7 of 16 passes for 79 yards and throwing four interceptions.
Gibilisco also had some success on the ground, carrying the ball five times for 75 yards. Kurtis Smith caught two passes for seven yards and Shareef Allman had two carries for four yards.
Defensively, Isaiah Thomas and Charlie Findeisen led with nine tackles each, while Gibilisco was also a force with eight stops. Dane Gurley added his strength with seven tackles and Jared Castillo had six. Dan Winter was able to tally five tackles.
Jon Meza and Dalton Bond both had a tackle and a joint sack for a 10-yard loss.
"Del Mar was well prepared," said Willow Glen head coach Ron Capurso. "It's blocking and tackling that wins games and we didn't do it. We'll see how we bounce back from this and how well we overcome adversity."
The Rams will face Prospect to open the BVAL West Valley Division campaign this week. Willow Glen will host the Panthers on Sept. 29 at 1:30 p.m.
