Bearcats’ late comeback falls short in final showdown
Head coach reflects on blocked punts, missed conversions
– In the season finale matchup against Lompoc, the Paso Robles High School Bearcats Football team fell short of their goal at Friday’s home game by a two-point deficit, 20-18, after striking a late comeback in the fourth quarter.
The Braves opened the game strong after an early interception. Junior quarterback Marcus Garcia was pulled out of the game just moments before because the referees required him to remove an item attached to his face mask.
This disruption left the Bearcats to rely on adjustments in their offensive strategy, resulting in an early interception in the game.
The Braves capitalized on the interception and set themselves up inside the red zone. An 18-yard touchdown pass put the Braves on the scoreboard, giving them the lead early in the game, 7-0. The Bearcats responded immediately as Garcia handed the ball off to junior wide receiver Tre Clark, who ran the ball 86-yard to the other end of the field and put the Bearcats on the board to trail by one point 7-6.
The Bearcats attempted a two-point conversion but were unsuccessful in their effort. Despite strong defensive efforts from the Bearcats defensive line and putting stops to the opposing quarterback’s drive on multiple attempts, the Braves managed a 7-yard rushing touchdown, extending their lead to 14-6 with 4:46 left in the opening quarter.
As the Bearcats regained possession of the ball, they failed to gain ground and were forced to punt on fourth down.
As they were in the transition of a punt, the snap was mishandled, leading to a scramble. The Bearcats punter recovered the ball in the end zone and tried to kick it, but the kick was blocked at the Bearcats 1-yard line, allowing Lompoc to score and extend their lead 20-6 quickly.
“I’m a former college special teams coordinator, and I’m the punt guy, so having that many punts blocked this year is really on me,” said head coach Matt Carroll. In a field goal attempt for the Braves, junior defensive line Rudy Contreras blocked the kick to end the first quarter.
The Bearcats’ defense had a shift in momentum after the first quarter as they created negative plays for Lompoc on first down.
Preventing the Braves from getting good yardage on first down was huge for the Bearcats, as they were able to keep the Braves out of their territory.
Junior defensive back Talen Freitas had a crucial stop deep in Bearcat territory as he deflected a pass in the endzone to stop the Braves from extending their lead going into halftime 20-6.
Coming into the second half, the Bearcats continued to apply pressure on defense with key tackles from senior linebacker Gavin Gatoloai and junior linebacker Jackson Rede. With a relentless defense still applying pressure, sophomore defensive back Matthew Ammann recovered a fumble as the Braves quarterback attempted to rush the ball.
The Bearcats executed on the recovery, and Garcia connected with Clark for a 7-yard touchdown pass.
Another PAT attempt failed, closing the third quarter 20-12.
The Bearcats mounted a comeback going into the fourth quarter as junior running back Kassim Williams ran the ball 49 yards into the Brave’s territory.
This run set them up inside the red zone, and a penalty against the Braves for unsportsmanlike conduct pushed the Bearcats further inside the red zone, and Ammann ran into the end zone, closing the gap 20-18 with 8:17 left in the game.
However, the Bearcats missed another two-point conversion attempt, leaving them trailing by two points as the clock ran down.
With four minutes left of the game, Garcia threw an interception on the Braves’ 35-yard line. Despite another stop on third down, the Braves successfully converted on fourth, running out the clock.
The Bearcats had one final drive to get the ball into the endzone, but Garcia’s last-second interception sealed their fate, and the Bearcats fell short by 20-18.
“We are great at second-half comebacks,” said Carroll. “In the future, we got to work on starting off a little bit stronger. All we ask from these guys is that they give one hundred percent the whole game.”
The Bearcats ended the season 2-8, 0-4 Mountain.
“Experience is so valuable in football, but we simply didn’t have it in certain areas,” said Carroll. Carroll emphasized the importance of strengthening the team to improve their chances of reaching the postseason next year.
“We got to get stronger and improve in the weight room,” said Carroll. “We really grew up as a team and learned what it is like to be a football player. The big thing was consistency. We became more consistent as the season went on, just a little too late.”
-By Joslen Jimenez
