A Thrilling Knight

These guys really put the ‘smash' into smash-mouth football.

In the battle for second place in the Los Padres League Friday night at St. Joseph's Al Maguire Field, St. Joseph defeated Nipomo, 24-17, in overtime to wrap up the league's No. 2 seed for the upcoming CIF playoffs.

The Knights finished the regular season at 5-2 in the LPL, 7-3 overall. The loss left the Titans at 4-3 in the LPL and 5-5 overall - good for third place and the league's No. 3 seed.

“It was a good night,” said St. Joseph head coach Mike Hartman. “We limited our mistakes. We had that one turnover early at the one-foot line but we didn't turn the ball over again.”

“I couldn't be more proud of our boys,” said Nipomo head coach Russ Edwards. “Two years ago - even last year - we wouldn't have been in this game. This year we were in it until the very end. We knew we had already qualified for the playoffs for the first time in Nipomo football history but tonight we were playing for second place. This team has a lot of heart. It just keeps on fighting.”

St. Joseph tailback Russell Perkins led the way with 87 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries. Quarterback Gavin Kelly gained 50 yards on six carries. Wide receiver Scott Cathcart picked up 23 yards on seven carries and wide receiver K.J. Cusack gained six yards on three carries.

Kelly also completed seven of nine passes for 76 yards - three to Cathcart for 30 yards, three to Travis Biegl for 40 yards and one to Cusack for six yards.

On the other side of the ball, tailback Ray Cano carried the load, gaining 150 yards on 35 carries.

Quarterback Mason Sperakos was 12-for-24 for 112 yards and two touchdowns.

Cano had one of those touchdown receptions. Wide receiver Derrick Stroub had the other TD catch and wide receiver Kyle Webb hauled in seven passes for 69 yards.

The Knights won this battle at the line of scrimmage.

In the first half, both defenses dominated.

After a scoreless first quarter, the teams traded field goals and settled for a 3-3 tie at the half.

Each team had one scoring opportunity in the first quarter but fumbled away its chance to score - the only turnovers in this largely mistake-free game.

As the second quarter began, the Titans were on the move. Taking the ball at their own 22 yard line, Nipomo marched down to the St. Joseph five when its drive stalled.

Facing a fourth-and-goal from the five, the Titans brought out kicker Eryk Fernandez who nailed a 22-yard field goal to get Nipomo on the board with 9:38 left in the half.

St. Joseph returned the favor on its next drive - beginning at its own 25 yard line and getting down to the Nipomo eight. With a fourth-and-six, St. Joseph brought out kicker Anthony Gallegos who hit a 25-yard field goal with 6:23 remaining in the second quarter.

St. Joseph opened the second half with a gut busting, clock killing, smash mouth onslaught.

Travis English hauled in the second half kickoff at his own 15 yard line. He returned it up to the 24.

From there, St. Joseph literally ground out a 20-play, 76-yard drive that took 9:29 off the clock.

The drive featured 16 running plays (11 by Perkins), four passing plays (all completions), no penalties and no one ever went out of bounds. That means the clock never stopped.

The drive finally ended with Perkins' first touchdown run - one a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Gallegos' extra point was good and St. Joseph had a 10-3 lead.

“At halftime, we challenged our offensive line to take over the game and they did that. We were determined to set the tone of the game,” said Hartman. “That was the turning point of the game. We needed to make a statement and we did.”

“They just decided that they'd be happy getting three or four yards on the run every play and they did,” said Edwards. “It was pretty smart on their part. They have big lineman up front and they just kind of leaned on us - three yards and a cloud of dust and it worked for them.”

Back came the Titans. Getting the ball at their own 24, Nipomo showed that it, too, could run the ball down an opponent's throat.

They were a bit quicker - using just under six minutes to get back into the game and matching St. Joseph's 76 yard drive with a 76-yarder of their own.

Nipomo needed 12 plays - nine runs and three passes - to get into the end zone.

Sperakos hit Stroub with an 8-yard pass in the corner of the end zone to pull the Titans back to 10-9.

But the point after was blocked and, with 8:38 remaining the game, the Knights held a slim one-point lead.

Now it was St. Joseph's turn.

Catchcart gave St. Joseph excellent field position with a 35-yard kickoff return to the 40 yard line.

Eight plays later, Perkins was back in the end zone - scoring on a 3-yard run. With Gallegos' PAT, St. Joseph was up 17-9 with 4:27 left in the game.

But there was no panic on the Nipomo sideline and back they came.

Starting at their own 32, Nipomo marched methodically downfield - relying mostly on the legs of Cano. 16 plays later, Sperakos hit Cano with an 11-yard touchdown pass. Sperakos then hit Stroub in the same corner of the end zone that he'd hit Stroub for his earlier TD and the two-point conversion tied the score at 17-all with just over 30-seconds left in the game.

In the first half, the defenses dominated - each team managing only a field goal. In the second half, the offenses got in gear but the time-consuming natures of the drives limited each team to just two possessions - and they scored on every one of them.

So it was on to overtime.

Each team gets the ball at the opponent's 25-yard line and goes from there.

The Knights won the coin toss and took to the field first.

That when Perkins took over. He gained 18 yards. Then, after he lost one, went 10-yards for the touchdown and a 23-17 lead.

Gallegos' point after was blocked, but Nipomo was flagged for being offsides and Gallegos had a second shot. He made this one and St. Joseph was ahead 24-17.

Now it was Nipomo's turn but the St. Joseph defense shut them down. Facing a fourth-and-4 from the 26, Sperakos tried to hit Kyle Webb in the end zone. But defensive back Dominic Brunello played the ball perfectly, jumping in front of Webb at the last second and knocking the ball away to preserve the Knights' victory.

November 10, 2007