A Football Season is a long journey filled with challenges. In order to make it to the Summit, the ultimate goal, a team must face many difficult trials along the way. The Acalanes Dons faced a formidable slope last Friday night, having to travel two hours to Sacramento in record heat to face a much larger D1 school that had beaten its previous three opponents by an average of 46 points. Even though the trail seemed impassable, this year’s Dons truly believe that together they can overcome any obstacle. If the Sheldon Huskies thought that their gaudy record and NFL-sized linemen were going to intimidate Acalanes, they quickly saw that would not be the case.

The 7:30p kick-off helped cool down the Sacramento temperature enough to be manageable, but having to immediately face Sheldon’s offense, featuring their highly recruited RB and massive offensive line was going to be difficult in any climate. So far this season, the defense has held up against a sophisticated passing offense in San Marin, and a run-heavy, Bishop O’Dowd squad, but this Huskies team was led by Devin Green (2), who has offers from Cal, Arizona, and Washington State, and an offensive line averaging over 300 lbs.

After receiving the kick, Sheldon started off immediately running Green up the middle for 8 yards. After an incomplete pass, they tried to run Green again on 3rd and short but the Don’s D would not have it. DE Justin Zegarowski, LB George Churchill, and FS Kyle Bielawski converged immediately and popped the ball loose, while SS Coco Gannon adroitly pounced on the fumble and it was Don’s ball in Husky territory!

Once the Dons offense had the ball, they wasted no time moving down the field. Two completions from QB Sully Bailey to WR Ethan Torres netted two first downs and a couple of runs from RB Ellis Burger had the Dons deep in Sheldon territory. A pass interference penalty on WR Trevor Rogers moved the ball even closer to paydirt, and a few plays later, LT Marcus Julian and LG Tyler Murphy sealed the edge and Bailey ran the speed option to Burger who waltzed in for the first score of the day. The PAT was missed so it was Dons 6, Huskies 0.

Back with the ball, and probably a bit shell shocked, Sheldon went to the passing game for a quick 8-yard completion, but after that was stoned once more by the Acalanes defense. A defense, by the way, that has only four Dons returning at the positions they played last year (SS Coco Gannon, LB Jack Giorgianni, LB George Churchill, and LB Nathan Kim). FS Kyle Bielawski was a LB, LB Tyler Worthington was a DE, DE Nathan Bennett was a LB, DE Justin Zegarowski was a LB, DE Marcus Julian was a DT, CBs Ethan Torres and Trevor Rogers were mainly on offense, and there are four juniors up from JV, Brady Morrow, Chase Caicedo, Gavin Bender, and Ace Reeder. All these Dons have quickly taken to their new roles as was evident in Sheldon’s second possession after the initial 8-yard gain. A second-down run was stopped by Torres and Bielawski, and after the third-down pass was batted down by Torres, the Huskies had to punt once more.

Back with the ball again, the Dons started moving. A counter run by Burger was followed by a short loss, putting Acalanes in a third and long. Bailey looked for WR Trevor Rogers past the marker, and found him on a sideline out to keep the drive alive. After another 10-yard completion, Bailey looked to Rogers on a quick curl, and Trevor did the rest, spinning out of a Husky tackle and out-sprinting the rest of the defense all the way to the house for six, the first of his three TDs on the day. The successful PAT made it Dons 13, Huskies 0.

Although they were down 13-0, the Sheldon Huskies are too good a team to pack it up that early. They settled down and started to lean on their running game, giving the ball to their bell cow RB behind that massive O-line. Runs of 17, 22, and 5 yards, had Sheldon on the move into Don’s territory as the first quarter ended, and a 9-yard TD run at the beginning of the second had them right back in the game. Dons 13, Huskies 7.

The following Acalanes drive started out well, with a 24-yard gain on an inside screen to Burger and an 11-yard bubble screen to Rogers, but stalled after a penalty and three incompletions. Giving the ball so quickly back to Sheldon seemed like trouble, and sure enough, the Huskies took advantage. On their first play from scrimmage Green burst through the middle and raced 55 yards to the end zone to give Sheldon its first lead of the day, Dons 13, Huskies 14. The Dons were unable to answer before the break and the half ended with Acalanes down by one.

Sheldon kicked off to Acalanes to start the second half and a long return from Rogers put them in good field position at the 30. It would be the last time the Huskies would willingly give Rogers the ball (they pooch kicked the rest of the way), but he would come back to hurt them regardless of their efforts. Taking advantage of the success that Burger had running the ball in the first half, QB Jake Boselli deftly ran a play-action fake and found WR Andrew Habas open with a 28-yard bomb to get the Dons rolling. A few plays later Boselli followed his O-line (Julian, Murphy, C Miller Smith, RG Victor Nicolacakis, and RT Trevor Carrillo) into the end zone on a QB sneak to put Acalanes back ahead. The two-point conversion was a speed option to the right side this time, with Carrillo and Nicolacakis sealing the edge, and Burger scooting in for the two points. Dons 21, Huskies 14.

The next defensive series started out strong, with LB Nathan Kim tackling Green for a short gain. However, the under-rated Husky passing game was now starting to click. After a few completions loosened up the Dons D, a 30-yard inside trap run to the fullback put them into the red zone. On the very next play, the Husky QB escaped pressure from DE Nathan Bennett, sprinted back left out of trouble, and found his receiver in the back of the end zone for a TD. The PAT tied it up at 21-21.

After the Dons got the ball, a sack and a holding penalty forced them to give it right back to the Huskies who had started to pick up momentum. A couple of completions and a long run from scrimmage were followed by a 24-yard pass for another score, and now Sheldon was in front again, Dons 21, Huskies 28 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Back with the ball once more, it was critical for the Dons to generate some offensive rhythm. Facing third and seven and risking giving the ball right back to the Huskies, Boselli did what is so hard for young QBs to do. He stepped up into the pocket to avoid some pressure and calmly zipped a strike to Torres right past the first down marker. Now the Dons were rolling again, as the O-line started getting a push, and two runs by Burger had them into the Husky red zone. Once there, Boselli looked to Rogers to finish the drive, hitting him on a short crossing route and the Huskies couldn’t stop him from taking it into the end zone. Another missed PAT left the Dons a bit short, Dons 27, Huskies 28.

Looking to continue their momentum, Acalanes tried an onsides kick on the ensuing kickoff, but unfortunately, the Dons touched the ball before it went the required 10 yards. The risky strategy could have paid off big time, but the fact that it didn’t put Sheldon in Don’s territory right away. Looking to Green to win it for them, the Huskies went to 23 personnel (two TEs and three RBs) to grind out a win. After several solid runs, they pulled out a reverse, and with the Dons focused on Green, ran the ball all the way down to the 1-yard line. One play later the Husky QB rolled right and found his receiver in the end zone for their fifth TD of the day. The Dons now had their backs against the wall, Dons 27, Huskies 35.

Backs against the wall? Down to their last chip? Maybe, but the Dons always have an Ace up their sleeve with offensive genius Floyd Burnsed calling the plays. Not more than a couple of minutes after the Huskies finished celebrating their lead, Burnsed dialed up the bubble screen pass-pass, with WR Ethan Torres taking the backward pass from Boselli and lofting his own throw to a wide open Trevor Rogers who juked the lone Husky safety and ran the rest of the way in for a 65 yard TD. Boselli hit WR Jake Takeuchi on a quick out to complete the series and add the two points for a 35-35 tie game.

Now it was up to the defense to get a stop. Having been in this position just two games ago against San Marin, the Dons’ defense was up to the challenge. Nathan Bennett, Ace Reeder, Chase Caicedo, Brady Morrow, Justin Zegarowski, Gavin Bender, Kyle Bielawski, Jack Giorgianni, Ethan Torres, Coco Gannon, and George Churchill stepped back onto the field with one goal in mind, stop Green and the Huskies cold, and give the ball back to the offense. The series started out a bit rough, as Green pounded through the Dons for a 15-yard gain. Not wanting the Huskies to get comfortable, the Dons dialed up a run blitz on the next play with Caicedo and Giorgianni stunting inside, opening up a lane for Churchill to fly in and hit Green, who bounced off the initial tackle only to be brought down by Morrow, Zegarowski, and Caicedo behind the line of scrimmage to set the tone for the rest of the possession.

An illegal procedure penalty against the Huskies was followed by a Zegarowski sack and an incomplete pass and the Dons had made their stop. Now the ball was going back to the offense with just minutes left in the game. Only minutes left and 55 yards to score? Not a problem for the Dons. Trusting his line to give Burger just the space he needed, Coach Floyd dialed up the inside counter that had been working all day, and the line delivered. LT Marcus Julian buried both the DT and the MLB inside with one block, and RG Victor Nicolacakis pulled and kicked out the DE, opening up the hole that Burger needed. Once out in the open, no one was going to stop Ellis from scoring and it was 55 yards to pay dirt. Acalanes was in the lead again, Dons 42, Huskies 35.

Now there was one last stop needed to ensure the victory and there was no way Don’s D was going to let it slip away. Sheldon seemed flustered now, and a dropped pass was followed by a bubble screen blown up for a loss by Bennett and Bender. After a halfback flare pass to Green got Sheldon to within 8 yards of a first, SS Coco Gannon absolutely annihilated Sheldon’s slot receiver on the fourth down pass attempt and the game was over.

Acalanes vs Sheldon Video Highlights

Amazing, hard-fought win by an incredibly close-knit, resilient, deeply talented, and hard-working band of brothers. Now they get to come home for two tough games before the league season starts. First up are the Redwood Giants of Marin, another NCS opponent with a rich history of success and a D1 QB recruit. We’ll need the same amount of max effort from the team and our fans to keep the winning streak going, Go Dons!