SAN JOSE — Jordan Fuentes’ thirty third carry of the evening appeared awfully just like his first, fifth, eleventh, twenty second and basically each different time he toted the ball for Dwell Oak.
Fuentes took the handoff, waited for a gap to develop, noticed a spot, after which was a sledgehammer with legs. He used his shoulder to get a couple of further yards as he leaned ahead for a primary down. After gaining his 258th yard, the ref signaled for a primary down and Fuentes exited the sport together with his group properly on its option to a 42-14 victory on Thursday.
Each groups got here into the matchup undefeated at 2-0 within the Blossom Valley Athletic League’s Mt. Hamilton Division. With Lincoln San-Jose defeating Christopher a couple of weeks in the past, and Dwell Oak outlasting a strong Santa Teresa group final Friday, this sport was for sole possession of first place and presumably the division championship. It was circumstances and stakes not misplaced upon these on the sector.
Fuentes ran for 2 touchdowns and caught two different ones.
“Tonight, I informed the fellows that that is it, that is the league championship proper right here,” Fuentes stated. “I consider we are able to beat the opposite two groups, and that that is our championship and an opportunity on the playoffs.”
The sport started trying like a high-scoring showdown, with Dwell Oak scoring on its first drive by the use of a 25-yard fourth-down bomb from senior quarterback Landon Stump to wideout Xavier Catano. However the host Lions, who hadn’t misplaced all season, took simply two Salvador Espinoza runs to reply proper again. Espinoza ripped off a 33-yarder after which broke tackles down the proper sideline for a 35-yard landing. However regardless that Lincoln’s senior tailback ended up operating for 112 yards and two touchdowns, the Dwell Oak protection held him in test after that first-quarter landing.
“We simply needed to watch their line and key in on their middle,” linebacker Zach Rocha stated. “Wherever he went, we went and we bought to the ball.”
Then got here the deluge of Dwell Oak touchdowns. After carrying the Acorns downfield on a five-minute drive, Fuentes slipped out of the backfield and caught a simple six-yard landing with 1:02 to go within the first quarter.
Following a strong defensive cease, Dwell Oak loved one other methodical drive downfield, one capped by a brief Fuentes speeding landing with 7:21 left within the half. Dwell Oak went into the halftime locker room up 28-6 when Stump faked a handoff to Fuentes and as an alternative tossed an 11-yard landing to Diego Castellanos.
The second half was extra of the identical, with every stalled Lincoln drive ceding its grip over the league to Dwell Oak just a bit bit extra. Dwell Oak simply needed to keep the course. And that’s what the Acorns, who ran for 371 yards on a mixed 46 carries, did behind a dominant offensive line.
“You maintain your block for one second and he’s gone,” senior Dwell Oak lineman J.J. Becks stated about blocking for Fuentes, earlier than turning his consideration to the sport’s significance. “We knew how good Lincoln is, so we practiced laborious this week and got here tougher tonight, and we knew what this meant for who might be league champs.”
Fuentes scored one other six-yard landing on the bottom with 6:43 to go within the third quarter. Lincoln briefly confirmed life when Espinoza ran for a six-yard landing and quarterback Tayden Phillips scampered for a two-point conversion. However Fuentes and Stump linked on a 15-yard go early within the fourth to finish any hopes Lincoln’s gamers or coaches had of a loopy comeback.
Whereas Fuentes was the present with 258 yards speeding, Stump was 11 of 13 passing for 132 yards and three touchdowns, with 46 yards going to Catano and 26 going to Castellanos. In the meantime, Lincoln-San Jose may solely full one go all evening and ran for 123 yards on 25 makes an attempt.
Lincoln coach Kevin Collins had bluntly-effusive reward for the group that had dominated his previously-undefeated Lions.
“We bought our butts kicked,” Collins stated. “However we've to return again on Monday able to roll as a result of no one goes to really feel sorry for us. And we’ve bought good youngsters, so we’ll rebound from this.”
The now 7-1 Dwell Oak group nonetheless has to beat a 2-5 Leland group subsequent week, after which take down a 6-1 Christopher group whose solely loss got here to Lincoln. Each video games are in Morgan Hill.
In the meantime, Lincoln (7-1) performs host to Santa Teresa after which travels to Leland to shut out its common season.
For Dwell Oak coach Mike Gemo, the aim is straightforward.
“Tonight was massive for us to take the lead within the league, however we actually need to win two extra too,” Gemo stated. “Our aim is to be undefeated.”