Newton’s Second Law tells us that Force = Mass * Acceleration. When the #3 ranked defending State Champ San Marin Mustangs came to Lafayette on Friday night, they definitely felt the Force coming from the Acalanes Dons. That force was manifested in both Mass from the Don’s powerful Offensive and Defensive lines and Acceleration from Acalanes’ running backs, linebackers, wideouts, and defensive backs.

Acceleration, while expected from the Dons trio of track stars at the wide receiver positions, was in abundance everywhere across the Dons defense with returning seniors Nathan Bennett, Justin Zegarowski, Tyler Worthington, Nathan Kim, George Churchill, Kyle Bielawski, Coco Gannon, and Ethan Torres, teaming with juniors Jack Giorgianni, Gavin Bendor, Marshall Anderson, and Trevor Rogers flying around making plays all over the field. Supplementing that speed was the powerful mass of returning senior linemen Tyler Murphy, Marcus Julian, and Zach Robb in partnership with juniors Brady Morrow and Chase Caicedo. With so much depth, power, and speed on defense, San Marin had a tough time moving the ball all night even with their sophisticated passing offense.

After receiving the opening kick-off, the Mustangs managed just two first downs before the Don’s defense stiffened and made them punt from midfield.

Pinned back at their own 15-yard line, with 85 to go to score, Acalanes immediately imposed their will on the Mustangs, with RB Ellis Burger charging through a gaping hole in the middle of the San Marin D for a 31-yard romp to midfield. Powerful blocking by the O-line (LT Marcus Julian, LG Tyler Murphy, C Miller Smith, RG Victor Nicolacakis, and RT Trevor Carrillo) opened more holes for Burger and allowed QB Sulley Bailey the time for completions to senior Jake Takeuchi, and juniors Trevor Rogers and Paul Kuhner, bringing the Dons into the Red Zone. A final completion to senior Ethan Torres put them on the 1-yard line and from there Burger powered in for the first score of the day. Senior Kicker Zach Murdin’s PAT was good and the first quarter ended with the Dons 7, San Marin 0.

On San Marin’s second possession, they began to move the ball as you would expect the third-ranked team in Northern California to do. Even so, on the drive, they had to overcome a 4th down, and needed help from a 15-yard taunting penalty, which got them down to the Acalanes 4-yard line. It was there that the power and speed of the 2022 Dons defense stepped up. On first down, LB Tyler Worthington and Nathan Bennett combined to stop the Mustang RB for no gain and a holding penalty pushed them back even more. On second down they went to their leading WR in the corner of the end zone, but WR/DB Trevor Rogers batted away the potential game tieing TD at the last minute. On third down, a swing pass to the RB was cut short by WR/DB Ethan Torres to force a fourth. On fourth down, instead of trying a FG, San Marin went to the same side again and once again was stymied by Torres with help from Coco Gannon and Jack Giorgianni… Dons ball!

Now backed up near their own end zone, the Don’s offense managed to get some breathing room after a nine-yard completion to Rogers. Facing a third and still deep in their own territory, Bailey dropped back, surveyed the field, stepped up in the pocket and saw a lot of green so he took off down the field and 19 yards later Acalanes was on the move again. A strong run by Burger, a dart through the middle of the defense to WR Paul Kuhner and a sideline completion to Rogers, and the Dons were in Mustang territory. After a couple of near misses on long bombs, Bailey finally hit pay dirt with a 36-yard rainbow to Rogers for the first passing TD of 2022 and after Murdin knocked through the XP, it was Acalanes 14 San Marin 0 at the end of the half.

Acalanes got the ball to start the second half and were moving down the field again. A quick bubble screen to Kuhner for 19, and a draw to Burger for another 15, and the Dons were in San Marin territory. However, a fumble on the next play popped right into the Mustang’s hands and now the pressure was back on the defense. As they had all night, the defense was up to the challenge, stuffing a couple of runs and forcing the Mustang QB to scramble out of the pocket. You could tell that San Marin was a bit flummoxed by the stout defense, and a holding penalty to prevent a sack pushed them back into a third and 35. It was there unfortunately that the Dons made their second mistake of the second half. After stopping a swing pass for little gain, a 15-yard face mask penalty gave San Marin new life and a much shorter distance for a first down. With another chance to turn the ball back to the offense, the Dons made their third mistake by committing an offside on third down, and now the Mustangs we back in Acalanes territory with a new set of downs. You really can’t make that many mistakes against a good team, let alone one who was ranked so highly and is coming off of a State Championship. One 8-yard rush and three completions later and the Mustangs were on the board. What could have been 21-0, was now a much closer 14-7 Dons lead.

After a long Dons drive hindered by penalties resulting in no points, the ball went back to San Marin. While still rock solid against the San Marin run game (the Mustangs averaged only 3 yards a carry), a 32-yard sideline bomb down the left side, and a subsequent 8-yard completion brought San Marin down to the 2. It was from there they were able to punch it in and now the score was tied 14 all.

After a good kick return got the Dons to the 40, Acalanes went back to the ground attack. Several Burger runs got the Dons across the 50 into San Marin territory and that’s when it was the Mustang’s turn to make a mistake. On fourth and three from the San Marin 40, a hard count by QB Jake Boselli got the Mustangs to jump and gave Acalanes a gift first down. From there, Boselli hit Kuhner over the middle and one play later hit Rogers in the end zone to give the lead back to the Acalanes and with Murdin’s XP it was Dons 21, Mustangs 14, late in the fourth.

So the opening game of the 2022 season would come down to the Don’s defense’s ability to hold the lead. Things looked promising initially when DE Nathan Bennett hit San Marin’s QB causing an errant pass that was intercepted by CB Ethan Torres. However, an Acalanes interception on the Don’s subsequent fourth down gave the Mustangs new life deep in their own territory. After another Bennett sack put San Marin in third and 18, a 23-yard completion between the LBs and the Safeties got them another first. Now at midfield, a second 20+ yard completion to the same spot got San Marin to the 25 where they killed the clock. That’s where things got a bit wild. DE Justin Zegarowski hit the Mustang QB on a scramble and the ball popped loose. Thinking it was a live ball, LB Jack Giorgianni picked it up and ran down the field as the clock expired. After a long discussion among the officials, it was decided that there wasn’t a fumble, that the QB was down by contact, and that the Mustangs would get three seconds to run another play. It all ended up being moot, since Trevor Rogers intercepted the last desperation pass in the end zone, and the score ended at Acalanes 21, San Marin 14.

Acalanes vs San Marin Video Highlights

Next week the Dons are off to visit Bishop O’Dowd in Oakland and their All-Pro coaching staff. After a fantastic opening home crowd, we need to take that energy on the road and bring the noise to our first road game to help the Dons get another big victory!