Page 9 - Sanger Herald 11-8-18 E-edition

SangerSports
SANGER HERALD * PAGE 1B * THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2018
Girls dominate Paso Robles before date with Clovis
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
The first couple minutes of the opening playoff round resulted in churning water, furious swimming and missed opportunities for no score by either the Apaches or visiting Bearcats from Paso Robles.
Then Sanger got the ball. Again. And junior Jaci Arrants fired in the first goal of the game. The play set the tone of the home match initiating the California Interscholastic Federation Central Section Division I post season.
“I scooted in,” Arrants said. “Addi (teammate Addison Williams) passed it to me, and I shot it.”
Arrants said she “kind of” approached in stealth mode but that she and her teammates had practiced just that shot. “I tried to shoot low,” she said. “We’re really excited to move on. We want to win. We’re ready.”
The No. 7 seed Apaches
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Emily Tienda gets that look in her eye as she goes after one of the visiting Bearcats.
Reminded of this, she said, “Today, I was trying to be the fastest (in the pool). I felt like we made those two quick shots at the start of the game (Arrants’ was followed by a decisive second by Williams) — ‘Guys, we can make it.’”
Williams, too, said she felt confident even before the game. “We already beat them at a tournament,” she said, referring to a 7-4 win Sept. 1. “We knew we had to come extra hard even so.”
And on Clovis, which Sanger played and lost to early in the season, she said, “Clovis High is a rival. It’ll be a very aggressive, high-speed game for sure.”
Williams, a senior who scored five of the Apache goals, said her time has improved since playing those earlier league games. She said a big difference was the Apaches’ performance in the Bullard match, where Sanger dominated all four quarters and goalie Bailee Poole allowed only a single
goal. “Our teamwork is much better,” Williams said.
Poole put up about a dozen blocks in that Bullard game and drew praise from at least one Paso Robles parent after the Apaches’ win. “She made all the difference in the game,” he said.
Poole collected about a half dozen blocks against the Bearcats. But one of them, with 28 seconds remaining in the game, proved decisive. It set up a score on a subsequent play by junior Crysta Benson, who made the final goal in the win.
Junior Hannah Cooper said the Apaches can get past Clovis. “We know we can,” she said. “Just fight. Beast mode it up, and just win.”
The reporter can be contacted by email at sangerheraldsports@gmail. com or by phone at the Herald at (559) 875-2511.
won the Halloween day match 13-7 and advanced to the second round against No. 2 Clovis on Nov. 3. That match ended in a 14-4 win for the Cougars, ending Sanger’s post-season play.
Head coach Hillary Boos said her team’s play has improved over the season.
“They did really good,” she said. “On to Clovis.”
Assistant coach Dave Kasagawa gave his post- game assessment to the team. “You played better,” he said. “But you still have to talk. It comes down to communication.”
Boos reiterated the
message, adding, “We need to get back on defense, especially with Clovis High.”
Victoria Torres-Huerta, a junior who scored in the game’s final minutes, said she was tired. But she didn’t play tired, tearing up and down the pool.
Football season ends on central coast
By Mike Nemeth
Sanger Herald
With 50 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Sanger quarterback Noel Collazo connected on a pass to wide receiver Jake Boust for a first down against a punishing Arroyo Grande defensive line.
The completion raised a deep, resonating cheer from the several hundred Apache fans who had driven all 164 miles to the coastal community for the first round of the California Interscholastic Federation Central Section Division I football playoffs. At this point in the Nov. 2 game, the Apaches had found themselves already behind two touchdowns against the physically bigger Eagles with no points on the visitor end of the scoreboard.
But after the play, the cheers halted. Offensive center Steven Gomez remained on the field. The 225-pound senior had reinjured his ankle on the play. A couple of trainers helped him hobble from the field, but he was done and remained in controlled agony the rest of the game.
Collazo connected again with running back David Ayala for another big gain, but subsequent efforts stalled. At the start of the second quarter, Ayala kicked a field goal from 30 yards to put the first Apache points up.
Arroyo Grande, No. 7 seed to Sanger’s No. 10, kept coming. Hard. The Eagles put up more points, closing the half at 35-3. And while the Central Coast heavyweight would win 59-10 that night, Sanger’s Apaches, although beaten, bruised and sorely depleted
Mike Nemeth / Sanger Herald
Pierce Jones, No. 5, shakes off a tackle to score a touchdown against the Arroyo Grande Eagles last week.
And coaches tossed junior linebacker Pierce Jones back into the offensive mix. Jones had recovered a fumble early in the second quarter and picked up a couple of rushing first downs a few minutes later.
After the fumble, Gabriel Webb, sidelined due to a knee injury and on crutches, shoved Jones really hard, or as hard as he could considering his dubious balance. Jones grinned big, perhaps finally allowing the moment to sink in.
So when Jones got another first down at 6:06 minutes remaining in the third and followed that up with a 9-yard run for a touchdown on the next play, Gomez barely contained his enthusiasm. “I told you,” he said with emphasis. He got up and screamed and the entire team followed his lead.
It didn’t last.
Eagle Hunter Collins punched through the Sanger defense for another touchdown with 3:41 on the clock. Defensive line seniors Salcido, Jude Groft and Rene Martinez gave everything they had to slow the Arroyo Grande juggernaut. But the outcome was sealed. Jones kept running, too, eventually winding up with 11 rushes for 76 yards.
“The El Camino Real, the Pacific Ocean, clean air. Even the AG band played Sanger’s old fight song, ‘On Wisconsin,’” wrote Sanger master statistician Ron Blackwood in his game notes. “But for awhile I thought I saw the University of Wisconsin Badgers offensive line show up: 255 (pounds), 270, 275, 300, 310. Their (Eagles)
quarterback 218 (pounds). Running backs 210 to 215, tight end 225.”
Blackwood said the undersize Apaches couldn’t match up on offense or defense.
Arroyo Grande head coach Mike Hartman summed it up after the game. “We’re a big physical team,” he said. “We always say, ‘You’ve got to dance with the date you bring to the prom.’ I tip my hat to Sanger. That’s a good offensive team.”
The Eagles brought a big, heavy date. They play Buchanan, and former Apache Jalen Cropper, in the quarterfinals Nov. 9 at Clovis.
Sanger coach Jorge Pena congratulated Hartman after the game. Sanger principal Dan Chacon said, “The Apaches fought to the end. Be ready for next year. We’re proud of our Apaches.”
Pena used an analogy to explain what happened. “We showed up on fumes,” he said. “And now we’re on empty. We might have left it all on the field last week (against Memorial).” He also addressed the size disparity of the two teams, but he also praised his players for not giving up.
Players like Fernando Gonzalez, a freshman drafted as a kickoff returner. He wore the No. 81 jersey and picked up a first down just prior to Jones’ touchdown. And Jones. And every Sanger Banger who pushed himself so hard that the end of the season crashed like an emotional waterfall in the Eagles’ spare locker room. The game-day roster showed a number of new names of athletes brought
in to bolster a battered lineup.
“Those are examples of kids we have,” Pena said. “Fight to the end. They have a lot of character. We took a lot of injuries. We held on as long as we could. We just ran out of gas.
“We asked a lot of our young players. No shame in that. We were a little overmatched tonight.”
The parents waiting outside the locker room exhibited nothing but support for their kids. “Pierce had an amazing night,” said Jennifer Schmitz, his grandma. “So proud of that kid.”
And Jesus Campos said the game appeared to have ignited the killer instinct in his son, junior Luis Campos, who will likely be looking to contribute to the offensive line with his 245 pounds next year.
Jones talked about the game after the team meeting. He still had to drive that night with his family back to Sanger. “It’s either you go home or you keep going,” he said of his frame of mind during the game. “I hadn’t played fullback all year, but they put me there and I had to step in with all the hurt guys and stuff.
“Those seniors keep the team going. It’s not going to be the same team next year.” And he said he learned a lot from this season. “Just everything they’ve taught me. I’m going to bring it and keep the tradition going.”
Jones also had 18 tackles. John Pena, who scuffed his white uniform nearly green with grass stains, had 17. Ayala had 13. Ayala also had the biggest reception of the night with 53 yards,
by that point in the season, kept trying to get back in the game.
Sitting on the sideline, Gomez admitted to some frustration but refused to give up.
“We can still win this,” he said. “Couple plays, gain momentum and we’re back in the game.”
Gomez at that moment reflected just a little about what constitutes an Apache — the pride players show in their teams, teammates and school. Win or lose, they give as much as they can and often come up with a little more. Asked if he’s always been a guy who never gives up, Gomez said, “I’d like to think so.”
And he said he believed
in his team “100 percent.” Near the start of the second half when Sanger’s defense took the field, Gomez yelled, “Let’s go D.” They heard. On the next play, Kosi Agina, Aaron Salcido and three other Apaches tackled the recipient of Arroyo Grande quarterback Kadin Byrne’s pass. To those on the Sanger side of the Doug Hitchen Stadium it felt a little like an exclamation point. The stadium’s field, which was encircled by a dirt track, soon will get that dirt replaced with a composite surface, said one of the
opposing team officials. The Apaches rallied. Collazo took to the air again, connecting with Boust.
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