CUPERTINO
– DeAnza College waited two years to extend its winning streak
over the Gavilan Rams to three games. The Dons scored in each
quarter Saturday afternoon to post a convincing 35-9 victory over
Gavilan on the winners’ field.
CUPERTINO – DeAnza College waited two years to extend its winning streak over the Gavilan Rams to three games. The Dons scored in each quarter Saturday afternoon to post a convincing 35-9 victory over Gavilan on the winners’ field.
After a light failure at Gilroy High cancelled the 2009 showdown between the two former Coast Conference rivals, DeAnza jumped to a 14-0 halftime lead Saturday. When Gavilan threatened to make a game of it with the first nine points of the second half, the Dons responded with the game’s final three touchdowns.
“We were missing three starters on offense,” said Gavilan coach John Lango. “A running back, receiver and offensive lineman. Our defense played hard, caused some turnovers, although we missed some tackles.”
Gavilan opens the home portion of the 2010 season Saturday at 1pm against Merced College at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
Dan Atencio, the former Gavilan coach in his fourth season leading DeAnza, lauded his defense for taking control of the game in the final 20 minutes.
“We were big and active on defense,” said Atencio. “The offense was pretty good, but more of our athletes were on defense and it showed. We’ve put a lot of work on conditioning and it helped out in the second half.”
DeAnza almost doubled the offensive output of Gavilan. The Dons finished with 316 yards of total offense, Gavilan 162.
The Dons used sophomore letterman Ryan Stillwell for most of the contest. Stillwell finished with a 21-for-32 performance through the air, worth 202 yards, a pair of touchdowns and two interceptions. Transfer Jerry Slota added 39 yards on a 2-for-4 back-up effort.
Gavilan went with Milpitas product Cameron Hernandez to start at quarterback. Hernandez was inconsistent, finishing with 68 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in a 9-of-18 performance.
Backup quarterback Sean Berglund came up with 44 yards on a 6-for-14 performance. Berglund had a tough first play, finding his slant pass to start the second quarter returned 54 yards for a touchdown on an interception by DeAnza’s William Davis.
DeAnza took the opening kick-off and marched inside the Gavilan 10 before giving the ball up on downs when Ram Bryan Gutierrez stuffed a fourth-and-one running play for a loss. The Dons regained possession at the Ram 43 following a punt and needed only four plays to take a 7-0 lead. After Stillwell and Slota combined for a 41-yard pass play to the one, Slota ran a power play off tackle for the touchdown with 8:35 left in the quarter.
After Davis gave DeAnza the 14-0 cushion, the Dons had another extensive march in the second quarter that earned six first downs before a fumbled snap gave Gavilan the ball at the nine.
Ryan Costa, who was called on to punt 10 times for the Rams, ignited the team two minutes into the second half with a diving interception on the Dons’ 41.Hernandez gained one first down with a nine-yard scramble, then threaded a 27-yard touchdown pass to Andre Cornell behind the DeAnza defense. Jeff Roberts added the PAT kick to leave it 14-7 DeAnza with 12:15 left in the third quarter.
Gavilan added a safety less than one minute later. Luis Padilla’s kick-off reached the endzone for a touchback. A second-down play resulted in a safety when a high snap over Slota’s head forced the quarterback to fall on the ball in the endzone with 11:22 to go in the quarter.
Gavilan could not register another first down for the next 18 minutes, however, and DeAnza roared back with three touchdowns.
DeAnza, a new member of the Golden Gate Conference, converted three third-down plays on a 73-yard touchdown march. Stillwell pitched a seven-yard TD toss into the right corner of the endzone to Shane Miller with 1:32 left in the third.
DeAnza’s next touchdown came on a blocked Costa punt with 11:40 left in the contest. Daniel Robertson made the block and Kwasi Achiaw pounced on the pigskin to leave DeAnza up 28-9. The Dons turned their next possession into a six-play march covering 48 yards. Stillwell’s nine-yard swing pass to Matthew Barquira completed the scoring.
James Gaynor, Gavilan’s workhorse running back, covered 40 yards on 14 rushes. Cornell and Excaliber Holder each had six receptions for Gavilan.
