Bryant rushes for three TDs in wild
&
amp; wacky 30-23 home win over Terra Nova
GILROY – A three-touchdown day would make even the best of high school players smile, but not Melvin Bryant.
The senior tailback – who ran for 116 yards to lead the Gilroy High football team to an opening 30-23 home win over Terra Nova – was happy to get the victory, but he could only remember his last carry.
“I fumbled. I can’t believe that. It was just a mental mistake,” said Bryant, who had a career day on ground with three rushing scores of 35, 29 and one yard. “It felt good, but I was on a little bit of a down note because I fumbled it. It still felt good with the victory.”
With the Mustangs ahead by a 15-point spread and 3:04 remaining, Bryant was stripped of the ball by Terra Nova’s Gerald Thompson – who ran the ball down to the Gilroy 12-yard line. Three plays later, Tigers tight end Jeff Blume caught a deflected pass as he lay on his back in the end zone. After a successful two-point conversion, Terra Nova was within a touchdown.
“Oh yeah, I was nervous at the end because you’d like to think up by two scores with four minutes left that we could just hold on to the ball and we’d get a win,” said head coach Darren Yafai following the wild finish.
The Tigers made everyone in attendance cringe as they successfully recovered an on-side kick – giving them one final chance to tie the game up or even go for the win. The ball hopped high off the grass several times and went 10 yards before Terra Nova senior Ben Delbecio fell on it.
“They know that (they can grab it before 10 yards), but – even myself as he kicked it – I kinda thought it was going to die and it picked up speed, picked up speed, and what happened is they laid three good blocks on our kids as we kinda waited for it, which is exactly textbook as you’re supposed to do it,” Yafai said. “We had one guy (unblocked) and rather then stepping forward to get it he kinda waited and as he waited someone hit him and knocked him back and their guy just picked it up.”
The Mustang defense, however, did not let this one slip away – halting the Terra Nova drive after only four plays to secure the opening win.
“I started to pray a little bit,” senior lineman Jose Albarron said. “It still really hasn’t hit me that we beat Terra Nova.”
The same Terra Nova that put a whoopin’ on Gilroy last season on opening night and then went on to win its league championship with an undefeated regular season.
“Terra Nova is an elite program in the section, year in and year out. They’re always battling for a section title. They win their league just about every year,” said Yafai, noting that the Tigers were 19-0-1 over the past two years in their league.
The Mustangs – who will host Santa Cruz on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in week-two – got on the scoreboard first as they immediately capitalized on a fumble recovery in Terra Nova territory. On first down, junior Jared Gamm – who just recovered the fumble – caught a 23-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Ben Hemeon (6/16, 48 yards, TD, INT).
Terra Nova struck back in the second quarter when Delbecio scored from 13 yards out to send the teams into the locker room even at 7-7.
After fumbling the ball over on a bad exchange on their opening drive of the second half, the Mustangs got the ball back as Terra Nova returned the favor by fumbling again. On second down, Bryant took an inside handoff, was apparently stopped – but bounced off a pack of tacklers, and took off into the end zone from 35 yards out. A bad snap on the extra point was then saved by Hemeon – who ran in for the two-point conversion to put Gilroy up, 15-7.
“We made a lot of mistakes, but it’s a good thing we came away with the victory,” said Bryant, who was nursing a shin injury all week. “I was hurting a lot, but I just had to fight through it.”
The Tigers answered back again, as Padillo hooked up with Delbecio for a 10-yard touchdown on a screen pass and then converted a two-point conversion to make it a 15-15 ball-game.
A Gamm interception to open the final quarter set up Gilroy’s next go-ahead touchdown. This time, Bryant scampered into the end zone on a 29-yard TD run followed by a Neil Martin extra point for a 22-15 lead.
After the teams exchanged turnovers with senior Nick Mason recovering a fumble for Gilroy and then Hemeon throwing his only interception of the night, the Mustangs got a big play from their punt return unit. Senior linebacker Danny Melendez sprinted into the backfield and blocked the punt – recovering the ball on the Terra Nova one-yard line.
“We were coming after it,” Yafai said. “We do a couple of stunts inside to try to block that and it sprung (Melendez) and boom he blocked that. It was huge.”
It allowed Bryant to find the end zone for a third time – giving Gilroy a commanding two-touchdown lead with 6:25 left.
“He’s a special back. He would have helped us last year had he not gotten hurt, and everyone got a glimpse of it when we played Live Oak at the end. He made a bunch of big plays,” said Yafai of Bryant. “He’s a player.”
The Gilroy defense then received another huge defensive play as senior Korey Gray intercepted a short pass. But when the game seemed to be sealed up, Terra Nova capitalized on a fumble and then converted on an on-side kick.
“It was a wild finish and we came out on the ‘W’ side of a wild finish which feels good,” Yafai said. “It kills you when you come out a loser in a wild finish.”
