Acalanes @ Miramonte, Oct 10

If you have “enjoyed” my previous game write-ups, you know I love to shower our boys with relentless positivity, making this week’s recap a bit challenging, but it wasn’t all bad news…

So let’s talk about some of the “near scores”, as there were many, and when you score zero points, close kinda counts. It was also great to have two players back in the line-up: Finn Aiken (15) and Colton Whalen-Schlosser (9).

QB Colton Whalen-Schlosser’s (9) top targets on the night were Maxim Volpian (7) and Aiken (15). Whalen-Schlosser’s (9) connected with Volpian (7) with a beautiful 40 yard toss that to this author looked like 6, but was not called as such on the field.

The absence of Graham Welton (55) on both the O & D lines, as clearly felt. As I have been told he doesn’t just create “lanes”, he makes an “express way”. In his absence other linemen stepped up. Notable performances by Will Siamis (88) with a blocked pass, three tackles and lots of QB pressure. Grady Branagh (67) also got in the QB pressure mix, with a sack and key fumble recovery.

Dax Vail (33) and Joaquin Bordi (26) had strong defensive showings. With eight and seven tackles respectively, it felt like they were everywhere. Bordi (26) also logged a sack. In the back field Dylan Icay (18) and Mason Anderson (19) kept the lid on this score.

Our JV Dons played hard to the end. Miles Moore (25) flew around the Mats line to block the final extra point of the game. The Dons final offensive drive of the game was a thing of beauty. Starting with a great return by Volpian (7). Followed by impressive runs from Dax Vail (33), Joaquin Bordi (26) and Whalen-Schlosser (9), we just ran out of time near to scoring. I loved the perseverance.