MARYSVILLE—When it comes to statistics, Gavilan beat Yuba in almost every category of Saturday’s contest. Unfortunately for the Rams, they came up short on the scoreboard.
The 49ers handed Gavilan its third straight loss, winning 40-24, despite a much stronger performance from the Gilroy squad.
Gavilan outdid Yuba on offense, racking up 382 yards to the 49ers’ 353. The Rams also had more yards in the air, as quarterback Sterling Montgomery went 20 for 42 with 284 yards and touchdown. Yuba’s two QBs combined for 151 aerial yards.
One of Gav’s objectives against Yuba was to play a more disciplined game and it completed the task. The team was flagged just five times for a loss of 50 yards—compared to 10 for 107 the week before—while Yuba was penalized 11 times for a loss of 102 yards.
The difference, however, was Yuba’s ability to create opportunities. After the 49ers opened the game with a 91-yard kickoff return from Tyrone Dennis to give them an early 7-0 lead, they used their defense to force and recover a fumble and blocked a field goal attempt to get into the endzone.
Yuba broke the game open the second with three consecutive scoring drives that put it ahead by 19 points.
The 49ers’ Dennis broke free for a 51-yard score early in the quarter and less than two minutes later, they were on the move again. They capitalized on a Justin Keathley-Deras fumble that put them at Gavilan’s 22-yard line and needed just two plays to score, but the point extra was no good.
With just over six minutes left in the half, Gavilan’s turned the ball over on downs at their own 43 after failing to convert from fourth and two. Yuba used the good field position to its advantage and used three plays to cover 43 yards for the score. The kick, however, was blocked.
Gavilan ate up the remainder of the quarter by covering 58 yards on 11 plays and capped it off with a 1-yard rushing TD by Anthony Brooks. The Rams trailed 26-14 at half.
Yuba scored again midway through the third and the Rams answered with a 25-yard field goal from Keathley-Deras. Brooks opened the fourth with another 1-yard rushing TD to get his team with nine as it trailed 33-24.
Gavilan nearly got on the board again on a Keathley-Deras 48-yard field goal attempt, but the kick was blocked. Yuba’s Chris Brown recovered the ball and Jaylon Deas took it 51-yards the opposite way for the game’s final touchdown.
But things didn’t always go Yuba’s way.
With eight minutes left in the first quarter, Yuba was on the fringe of the redzone when Gavilan’s Damon Perez forced a fumble, which was recovered by teammate Ben Hagiperos. The turnover sparked a scoring drive for the Rams, who used 11 plays to cover 79 yards to reach the endzone—but it wasn’t pretty.
Montgomery completed a 20-yard pass to Jarijah Harrison, which brought the ball to Yuba’s 10-yard-line before he fumbled it. Gavilan’s Ryan Reynolds recovered the ball but Isaiah Francis of Yuba forced another fumble. Reynolds once again snatched it up and took it the rest of the way into the endzone to tie the game at 7-7 just before the end of the quarter.
Gavilan (0-3) looks to rebound when it hosts Reedley at 5 p.m. Saturday. Reedley is 2-1 so far this season. It’s coming off a 37-28 loss at Contra Costa Saturday.
