OAKLAND – Tayshon Clayton had run himself out of the play, and for a quick second it regarded as if Bellarmine backup quarterback Parker Threatt was going to gash McClymonds for an additional massive run in additional time.
However as an alternative of giving up, Clayton fought to get again into the play and ended up punching the ball out of Threatt’s fingers. Senior Gregory Kenny jumped on the ball and clinched the 24-21 additional time win for the Warriors.
“We had a blitz going, however I noticed him going the opposite manner,” mentioned Clayton, a junior defensive again. “However I saved going and hit him and it popped out.”
On an evening when the late Invoice Russell, a civil rights icon, 11-time NBA champion and McClymonds alum was honored, it was solely becoming that the sport between Central Coast Part and Oakland Athletic League powerhouses become a defensive battle. There have been turnovers, exhausting hits, accidents and stilted offenses in a recreation that took nearly three hours to complete.
“I simply informed my guys to maintain combating, and we knew that Invoice Russell, my mother and everyone regarded over us and didn’t let it go the way in which it might have gone,” McClymonds coach Michael Peters mentioned after the sport.
McClymonds managed the primary half, scoring twice on lengthy landing runs by senior working again Jaivian Thomas to take a 21-7 lead into the break. His first was an 80-yard sprint down the proper sideline, and his second was a 48-yard scamper in entrance of the Bellarmine workforce.
“He’s that boy, he’s like that,” Clayton excitedly mentioned about Thomas. “You may’t cease him, and groups are gonna have an extended 12 months enjoying in opposition to him.”
In between these highlights was a Bellarmine 30-plus yard landing toss off play motion from senior beginning quarterback Nate Escalada to junior receiver Colin Lakkaruju, and a McClymonds landing bomb from quarterback Deontae Faison to fellow junior Tajir Golden.
McClymonds’ line of defense, which went a minimum of seven-deep, was stout all evening. If the tenacious 6-2, 275-pound junior Charles Adams didn’t get to the ball, then edge-rushing seniors Joshua Shankin, Jaysen Cole or any variety of his different teammates would. Bellarmine’s capacity to maneuver the ball in such circumstances turned much more tough after Escalada was knocked out of the sport late within the second half.
“All summer season, they had been within the weight room,” Clayton mentioned. “They work exhausting they usually can’t cease working exhausting.”
With out their beginning quarterback, Bellarmine’s protection was as much as the duty after they fell behind 21-7. Linebackers Brandon Broch and Ben Coulter repeatedly stepped as much as confront Thomas, who ran for 180 or so yards however not often discovered straightforward positive aspects outdoors of his two early explosions. And with six minutes left within the third quarter, Jake Hanson returned a blocked kick over 70 yards for the rating to chop the McClymonds result in seven.
“I don’t suppose our offense helped out our protection in any respect, and it was fairly clear that our protection saved us within the recreation,” Bellarmine coach Jalal Beauchman mentioned. “We now have some particular items, and as soon as we determine put all of it collectively, we’ll be OK.”
The fourth quarter was a horror present for many who love offense. With 4 minutes to go within the quarter, Bellarmine fumbled the ball away to the Warriors. However then McClymonds gave the ball proper again. After that was a torturous drive downfield by the Bells, who had been saved alive by Threatt runs and various infractions by McClymonds.
“We knew the man who got here in preferred to run the ball,” Peters mentioned about Threatt, the Bells’ backup quarterback. “However he nonetheless got here in and did some nice issues for the opposite workforce.”
Threatt, a junior, helped the Bells cap off that drive with a 12-yard fade move to senior Wilson Pimentel for a landing with 35 seconds on the clock. When McClymonds obtained the ball first in additional time, the offense obtained shut sufficient to permit kicker Isaac Espinosa to kick a brief area purpose. Then Clayton’s massive play closed out the sport and gave McClymonds their first win of the season.
“I really like having faculties come down right here, as a result of we’ve been breaking that barrier down over time, and displaying that we’re equal to the opposite groups (within the Bay),” Peters mentioned. “I feel that over the previous couple of years, making the state championship video games, that has opened some doorways for us.”
