Grizzlies bounce back in big style

Coming into last Friday night’s game against Gustine, the question surrounding the Mariposa County High School varsity football team was how they would respond after dropping a tough one-point loss at Amador the previous week.

The Grizzlies answered that question quickly against Gustine, jumping out to a 20-0 lead with 1:16 remaining in the first quarter en route to a 50-6 romping.

The game was played in Mariposa.

“The practice week set the tone for tonight,” said MCHS Coach Chase Pometta. “You need that if you want to do things in the playoffs. You need to face adversity and respond positively to that adversity, whether it is drive to drive or game to game. We knew during the post-game talk after Amador that these guys would bounce back.”

Pometta said that it came down to “capitalizing on turnovers and sticking with the ground game,” pointing out that the five-yard rushing plays and other short yardage plays helped push the ball downfield for scoring opportunities.

Mariposa struck early with a long touchdown run by Lyell Marcis with 4:27 remaining in the first quarter. The extra point was missed.

Mariposa immediately caused a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, taking over deep in Gustine territory. Running back Rusty Bull then took it to the end zone seconds later, scoring at the 3:24 mark with a successful extra point attempt to go up 13-0.

A 30-yard scamper from quarterback Austin Battles put MCHS up 19-0 followed by a successful extra point with 1:16 left in the first quarter.

Gustine struck back for its only points of the game on a long touchdown rush from Juan Aguilera with 51 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The two-point conversion attempt was knocked down.

Mariposa recovered a fumble with 9:41 left in the second quarter that set them up just shy of midfield, but the Grizzlies were intercepted two plays later.

Bull took the ball to the house with 13 seconds left in the second quarter to put MCHS up 27-6 heading into halftime.

In the third quarter, MCHS recovered a fumble at the Gustine 20-yard-line with a little over nine minutes left in the quarter. Bull had a TD plunge with 7:11 left to go up 33-6, with the extra point being no good.

MCHS then recorded a safety when a poor Gustine snap went into the end zone with 5:28 remaining in the third quarter. It put the Grizzlies up 35-6.

The next touchdown came when Manuel Siller hit pay dirt on a run from nearly 25 yards out with 9:33 left in the game.

Ashton Davies recovered another Gustine fumble on a poor snap with 4:29 left. Joe Walker then took the ball across the goal line on the very next play. A botched snap on the point after attempt was saved by a heady play, as Mariposa still managed to throw a pass to convert for two points, which were the final points of the evening.

Austin Battles completed four passes for Mariposa, gaining 70 yards. He rushed five times for 71 yards and one touchdown. Bull had 15 carries for 72 yards and three touchdowns. Lyell Marcis had two carries for 13 yards and one touchdown, while Manuel Siller was entrusted with the ball four times for 48 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Joe Walker contributed one carry for 15 yards and a touchdown while Caden Lindsay logged one carry for four yards.

Ezekiel Weiland had two receptions for 42 yards while Bull added two for 28 yards.

Despite the blowout, there were times of sloppiness for the Grizzlies, which didn’t please coach Pometta.

“We were sloppy on our side too. That was our discussion as coaches (after the game). We have a lot of things we’ll correct come Sunday, during our meeting,” he said.

With that said, Pometta praised his players for their attitude immediately after the conclusion of the contest. They were resolute in the fact that they wanted to get better.

“It speaks to these kids that you can win a game 50-6 and tell them there are still things to work on, and they will nod and say ‘yes, coach,’” he explained.

Mariposa improved to 3-1 and 1-0 in Southern League. Mariposa will travel to Modesto Christian next Friday, with game time set for 7:15 p.m. Modesto Christian was 0-3 heading into last Friday evening’s action.

Pometta said he expects Modesto Christian to employ a spread offense and air it out.

“They will be a young team,” Pometta said. “Modesto Christian and Mariposa have had some great games over the course of both schools’ histories. They’re a bit of an unknown in that we haven’t had any common opponents or seen any tape on them yet.

“But it sounds like they’re going to throw the ball and it’ll be a completely different style of offense we will face. We’ve got to keep checking the boxes and make sure we can rally up against any type of opponent.”

The junior varsity team will not play against Modesto Christian but will instead travel to Sonora to face Sonora’s freshman team on Thursday evening.

Alumni night energy

Pometta says boys capitalized on excitement from Alumni Night

Pometta was excited about celebrating Alumni Night on Friday. He implied that his players benefited from the experience.

“They genuinely get fired up about it,” he said. “It’s great to see our guys interact with them. It’s great for those guys too (the alumni), to know what they did really mattered.”

Pometta said celebrating the alumni players “set the tone” for the night.

“That energy was in our locker room,” he said. “Our boys were so fired up.”

Pometta also credited MCHS athletic director Trace DeSandres and several others including Bill Peterson for helping to host Alumni Night as well as get the field ready for the game.

“He has worked nonstop on this event and all of this,” Pometta said of DeSandres. “Celeste Azevedo, Mike Evans and all the maintenance crew (have also been helpful) … Everyone came together and made this happen for the boys.”

Finally, Pometta said his team wanted to make everyone who contributed to the special evening proud of their performance.

“These boys were very proud to represent all (the folks who put in) that hard work,” he stated.