Gavilan gridmen erase 15-point deficit to take lead before
falling 28-24 to Marin
KENTFIELD – Hold off on that parade. Give the Gavilan Rams a chance to regroup before printing those post-season bowl tickets.
College of Marin trimmed Gavilan 28-24 Saturday afternoon, leaving both teams at 1-1 and both coaches searching for more answers after the uneven performance witnessed by a crowd of 300 on the Mariners’ field.
“We were so inconsistent on offense. If we ever eliminate the mental mistakes, we’ll be very good.”
Those comments came from the winning coach, Tim Adams.
John Lango noted that his team “played the way we practiced all week – lousy. We didn’t tackle, and we missed so many blocks up front.”
Despite the breakdowns listed by Lango, the Rams did come back from a 21-6 deficit to take a 24-21 lead in the fourth quarter.
Geary Davenport’s third touchdown pass of the game gave Marin a 21-6 advantage with 8:36 left in the second quarter. Gavilan began its comeback with a six-minute march on the next series, ignited by two 12-yard scampers by frosh running back El Ray Henry. Gavilan, burned by a motion penalty on fourth-and-two from the Mariner three, settled for an A.J. Garbin 27-yard field goal and left the sweltering field at halftime down 21-9.
The Rams’ lone touchdown scored by the offense happened in the first six minutes of the second half.
The Mariners began an offensive series at the host 22, but a Davenport long pass became a turnover when J. R. Richmond tipped the ball away from the intended target and into the hands of cornerback T. J. Monroe for his third interception of the season.
Henry accounted for every yard, 38, needed to reach the endzone, including a 25-yard bolt over left guard to the Marin four. Henry leaned over the goalline on the fourth down, making it a 21-17 contest with 9:05 left in the third quarter.
Gavilan began its scoring for the day by turning to its defensive unit, then tried the same formula in the third quarter for its final points.
Marin had a first down on the Gavilan 47 with 1:44 left in the third quarter. Davenport was under pressure in the pocket when the state’s total offense leader for the 2002 tried to loft a short pass to his running back near the line of scrimmage. The pass was tipped up, then grabbed by Gavilan linebacker Janall Arthur at the Marin 36. Arthur slipped out of Davenport’s potential tackle, then raced 36 yards to paydirt and a 24-21 Ram lead.
Gavilan forced Marin to punt in the first seconds of the fourth quarter. A Gavilan holding penalty, one of 10 whistles for 105 yards against the visitors, ruined the next Ram series and led to the eighth of nine Ram punts on the day.
Marin, and Davenport, would not be denied on its next possession. Davenport keyed the 62-yard scoring drive when he blazed around the right flank on a third-and-12 play, rushing 18 yards to the Ram 24. Davenport fired 17 yards to Marius Silas at the seven, then handed off to halfback B.J. Wimberly for the final seven yards and a 28-24 Mariner lead.
Gavilan’s offense could not muster a first down on its next series. Lango called on back-up quarterback Nick Buzzetta to handle the offense on its final possession. The fomrer San Benito High star turned three first downs into a march into Marin territory before the drive stalled.
Before Davenport could begin a 361-yard performance in total offense for the Mariners, Gavilan grabbed a 6-0 first-quarter lead off a Marin miscue.
On the second play of the team’s second series at the Marin 31, Davenport was suprised by a high center snap from the team’s shotgun formation. As Davenport scrambled to cover the ball near the Marin 10, defensive end Roy Sims flattened the quarterback and sent the ball loose near the seven-yard stripe. Linebacker Brian Hernandez picked up the ball and scooted the seven yards to a 6-0 Ram lead. The point-after kick was blocked.
Marin completed an eight-play drive to a tying TD with an eight-yard pitch from Davenport to Edgar DeLuna. The PAT try was blocked with 7:49 left in the first quarter.
Davenport beat Gavilan coverage for scoring tosses of 47 and 20 yards in the second quarter.
Gavilan finished with 177 yards in total offense, with Henry covering 81 yards on 19 carries and quarterback Patrick Ames turning a 10-for-19 passing effort into 65 yards. Marin held a 23-11 edge in first downs. Davenport went 26-for-40 for 285 yards, three TDs and three intercetions. Marin had just 76 rushing yards in 33 plays, Gavilan 112 yards on 38 running plays.
Ram wide-out Ted Mason, so critical to the 28-14 win over Merced one week earlier, went without a single catch.
The only mention of ex-NFL players on Saturday afternoon was the pre-game announcement that ex-49er Bob St. Clair was on the field as an honorary captain for Marin during the coin toss.
