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The Acalanes Dons JV football team had not lost to the Miramonte Matadors since November 4, 2016. Nearly 6 years later, with a first down on the Mats 34-yard line, a 28-15 lead, and 3 minutes and 27 seconds left in the game, the Dons were probably confident that they would be able to keep the winning streak going. In fact, according to AWS Next Gen Stats, the Dons had an approximately 99.25394% chance of winning the game at that point. For those of us watching at home, this was also about the time when the Acalanes Football Stadium livestream cut-out, setting up our “Heidi Bowl” moment, which of course was the 1968 AFL game between the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets where NBC decided to break away from coverage on the East Coast to broadcast the TV film Heidi, causing anger among viewers who missed the Raiders’ comeback in the final minute.
After the game ended, fans from both teams were texting that the Mats had staged an epic comeback. My first thought was…is it April Fool’s Day? No, wrong time of year for that. Perhaps it was fake news with the mid-term elections coming up? Nope, not that either. After getting confirmation from reputable sources that the Mats had in fact won, reality set in that this was more like a Halloween Friday Fright Night.
The game was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the Dons outscored the Mats 28-7. Incredibly, the Dons’ worst starting field position in their six possessions in the half was their own 46-yard line. Their other possessions all started in Mats territory at the 46, 42, 29, 20, and 10-yard lines. This tremendous starting field position was driven by a combination of great team defense including sacks by Drew McKenzie, Jack Manful, Johan Riviera and Andrew Tresser, tackles for losses by David Roux, Niko White, and Drew McKenzie, outstanding interceptions by Brody Greenfield and Colby Ebner, a big punt return by Niko White, Mats penalties including multiple kicks out of bounds, and a Eitan Romick booming kickoff downed at the Mats 1-yard line.
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The Dons offense was able to take advantage of the short fields. Eitan Romick had two TDs including a 48-yarder for the first score of the game.
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QB David Gonzales made plays with his arm including two TD passes to the end zone to Tyler Kim for 24-yards and JB Frolich for 10-yards, and with his legs with some good scrambles.
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Lucca DeBiasse continued her season perfection on extra points with four more, bringing her total to 19.
In the second half, however, the Mats outscored the Dons 22-0. Both teams forced turnovers. The Mats forced four, and the Dons forced three (two interceptions courtesy of Jake Yoshinaka and Nicky Fosina and a fumble caused by Eli Laird recovered by Avyn Morales) plus a turnover on downs following another huge sack by Drew McKenzie. The difference in the half was the ability of the Mats to make big plays on offense in critical moments after swapping out QBs, defense, and special teams including a two-point conversion in the third quarter that loomed large and a long punt return late in the game.
And now back to the aforementioned 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Those 207 seconds were nothing short of a Nightmare on Pleasant Hill Street for the Dons. It started with a 67-yard pick-6 by the Mats defense. Next, the Mats attempted an onside kick that was recovered by the Dons, but they were able to force a three and out with two short runs and one incompletion. David Roux kicked a booming punt on 4th down, but the Mats special teams delivered an even longer return, and then the Mats offense quickly marched down the field courtesy of a long completion down the sideline and a few QB sneaks. The Dons had one last chance down 29-28, but the drive stalled following an incompletion and an interception on a Hail Mary pass. The Mats then kneeled-down and ran out the clock, putting the final nail in the Dons coffin. Tough loss for the Dons, but a tremendous effort by the entire team.
The Dons hope to end the season on a high note as they travel to Northgate on Friday, November 4 at 4:30pm