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Friday's Internet Edition, September 03, 2010.
Varsity Warriors finish season at home
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Photo by Paige Lampson
Cameron Guerrero goes for the ball with a Christian Brothers player in his way.
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By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports
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It was supposed to be a spoiler night for Galt, which wouldn’t have minded helping to knock another team out of the Sierra Valley Conference playoffs.
Instead, it became a night to focus on its seniors, who played in their final game Monday at Galt High School.
The Varsity Warriors fell 3-0 to Christian Brothers, which won on three second-half goals to take home the win.
Daniel Robles started the game at goalkeeper for the Warriors, and allowed all three goals before J.J. Martinez filled in with 13:10 to go in the second half.
The Warriors came close to scoring twice after Christian Brothers scored, with the first shot bouncing off the chest of Falcons goalkeeper Chris Small, who dove in front of the net.
The second time, it nicked the goalpost and bounced away.
Christian Brothers’ first shot was a lucky one for the Falcons, who scored on a freak play after the ball ricocheted off a Galt player’s head into the net in the 35th minute.
Adrian Perez scored the Falcons’ second goal and Joe Hill scored the final goal.
The Warriors celebrated their senior night before the game, saying goodbye to eight players who played in their final game as a Warrior Monday.
The eight seniors on the Warriors helped the team finish with a 6-4-2 SVC record and a 13-6-4 overall record.
Each senior was introduced by head coach Bob Merten in a ceremony before the game, handed a flower and was walked over by a cheerleader to his parents before standing in front of the crowd with his fellow seniors.
“Every year that I get a group of seniors, they’re a great group of guys,” Merten said after the game.
“Things didn’t go our way, but they played hard,” Merten said, referring to the entire team Monday. “Stuff happens. Other than that, it’s been a fun season.”
The Warriors finished in fifth place in the SVC, which does not fully describe their potential to reach the playoffs.
Galt was in a solid spot to reach the playoffs as late as last week, before a loss to Ponderosa took them out of the playoff hunt.
Bruins score as time runs out to hand Warriors heartbreaking loss
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Photo by Paige Lampson
Joey Ruiz makes the catch from quarterback Robert Byrd.
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By Kerensa Uyeta-Buckley
Herald Sports
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The seconds ticked off the game clock with the Warriors up 3-0 in the fourth quarter, but as they did and time ran out Friday night, Ponderosa quarterback Casey Friederich landed near the goal line, with a pile of players from both teams landing on top of him.
After referees examined the pile and where exactly the ball was in the play, the announcement that it was a Ponderosa touchdown sent waves of shock down Galt’s sidelines and gave Ponderosa a 6-3 last-second win in their home stadium.
The Warriors had led since the third quarter on Cody Klucznik’s 34-yard field goal, and Galt’s defense shut Ponderosa out prior to the last play, which Galt felt was a mistaken call immediately afterward.
“I believe they missed the call at the end of the game. However, refs missing calls is unfortunately part of the game,” Galt head coach Warren Schroeder said Monday of Friday’s game.
While Bruins players jumped up and down in jubilation at the call, Warriors stood or kneeled over in disbelief, seeing what would have been a win be replaced by a loss instead.
“We expressed to our players that sometimes life is not fair and you can't do anything about it, so you have to pick yourself up, move on, and get ready for your next challenge in life,” said Schroeder.
Galt vice principal Joe Saramago sent over a video of the play to Jim Jorgensen, the northern SJS head of officials to see why the final play was ruled a touchdown, but the outcome of a game cannot be altered on a judgment call according to prep football rules.
The loss gave Galt a 2-1 Sierra Valley Conference record and a 4-3 overall record with three games left in the regular season.
The win was especially important to the Warriors since Ponderosa was a ranked team and the unranked Warriors could have remained undefeated in the SVC.
The Warriors had won four straight games and had worked hard toward capturing a fifth win.
Although they made a few mistakes, the Warriors’ defense had perhaps its best game.
The Warriors prevented Ponderosa from scoring by limiting first downs, forcing incomplete passes and taking advantage of Ponderosa penalties.
Galt had a fourth down with 5:05 left in the third quarter when it called a timeout and decided to kick a field goal from Ponderosa’s 24-yard line.
Klucznik kicked it through the goal posts for the lead.
“Cody has worked hard developing consistency. He is young and is getting some valuable experience this year which will make him better for next year,” Schroeder said of the junior kicker, who also plays varsity soccer for Galt.
Both Galt and Ponderosa had come close to scoring several times, but had been stopped by the opposing defense or their own mistakes.
With the number of twists and turns that accompanied the last play, it seemed plausible that the Warriors could hold Ponderosa once more.
The Warriors punted the ball with over three minutes left and Lyndell Scarr returned the ball to Galt’s half of the field with 3:03 remaining.
The Bruins moved the ball to the 12-yard line and the eight-yard line before Scarr was pushed back to the 10-yard line after being tackled by Joey Ruiz and Abram Piggee to force a fourth and eight situation with 1:28 left.
Unsportsman-like conduct on the Bruins pushed them back again, cutting a significant dent in their progress.
However, a 10-yard penalty was then called on the Warriors, putting the ball on the nine-yard line and giving Ponderosa an automatic first down.
The penalty gave new life to Ponderosa, which had been clinging to their fourth down.
The Warriors’ defense both pushed Ponderosa back and held them to minimal yards to force a third down for Ponderosa and to bring them to the seven-yard line.
However, Ponderosa ran the ball once more and it was then that the referees ruled Friederich had scored.
Bill McDonald and Ryan Byrd had one sack apiece for the Warriors, while Anthony Trejo made an interception for five yards and had two tackles for Galt’s defense.
Trevor Alcoriza led Galt’s defensive line with 12 tackles, Abram Piggee had 11 tackles and Byrd had eight tackles.
P.J. Lowe had seven tackles, Ruiz had seven tackles, Tyler Kluender had seven tackles, David Petkovich had five tackles, Eric Toscano had four tackles, McDonald had four tackles, Brandon Cox had two tackles, David Da Rosa had one tackle, and Adam Russell had one tackle for the Warriors.
Speaking of Galt’s defense, Schroeder noted the effectiveness that was spread through Friday’s game and gave credit to the players and his coaching staff.
“We knew we could effectively stop them on defense if we played smart and physical, which we did,” Schroeder said. “Our staff did another amazing job with the game plan and our players did a great job executing it.”
Robert Byrd made six of 13 pass attempts for 40 yards, while Alcoriza led the ground offense with 160 rushing yards.
Piggee rushed for 28 yards and made two receptions for three yards, Trejo rushed for 14 yards, Ruiz rushed for 13 yards and Robert Byrd rushed for 11 yards.
The Warriors will now turn their attention to Christian Brothers, which lost 27-14 to Oak Ridge last week and has an identical 2-1league record to Galt’s.
The game will be important in that it can help decide if the Warriors move on to the playoffs, with just three games left including this week’s game.
“They also know that they must win this week in order to have a shot at a league title and a berth in the playoffs,” Schroeder said.
The game against the Falcons will be Galt’s final home game, which could give Galt an edge, and will be played at 7:30 p.m.at Erv Hatzenbuhler Field/Warrior Stadium.
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