The football team took a heartbreaking loss against the El Cerrito Gauchos 20-16 to end their season on Saturday night.
From the start, it was a heavily defensive game. The Bears were on defense first and forced an early punt for the Gauchos with the help of numerous penalties. Even so, M-A had trouble getting their offense going, causing a quick three and out.
The Bears’ defense was locking down every move El Cerrito presented, making them turn possession over with another punt. A rolling snap to the punter gave the Bears’ special teams the opportunity to take him down and hand the offense excellent field position.
On a third and 15, senior running back Eva Ama picked up eleven yards, causing M-A to face a fourth down with four yards to go. In this situation, the Bears decided to go for it, but failed, turning the ball over on downs.
The Bears’ defense continued to be all over the Gauchos’ offense. On a third down, the entire defensive line got through the blockers to pile on the quarterback, getting a sack to end the first quarter tied 0-0.
Kicking off the second quarter with the Bears on offense, on just the second play of possession, they fumbled the snap which allowed the Gauchos to recover the ball.
The defense for M-A couldn’t hold El Cerrito’s offense this time, as they were able to capitalize on the short field position to put the first points on the board with a three-yard rushing touchdown. A successful conversion put the Bears down 7-0 with 8:35 left in the half.
Quickly, the Bears were behind the sticks as they still faced struggles in moving the ball forward, leading to yet another punt.
With 2:52 left in the second quarter, the Bears needed a big stop, and that’s exactly what they got. A huge hit from junior cornerback Diego Madrid knocked the ball loose while the Gauchos quarterback attempted to pass to a receiver, and senior safety Joel Fifita grabbed the loose ball for the interception.
Shortly after, Dacey found his sophomore receiver Kyle Gabriel for an electric 35-yard touchdown, tying the score 7-7 to conclude the first half.
The Bears looked to have something going on offense, as a run and a reception from Ama gave them an early first down. Even so, M-A ran into offensive difficulty, stunting their momentum and causing them to punt for the third time in the game.
With the defense back out for M-A, senior defensive lineman John Niko got an early tackle for loss, and was followed up with tight coverage from the defensive backs, resulting in El Cerrito punting.
Once again, the Bears’ special teams got to the punter, tackling him before he could manage a punt, and putting M-A inside the red zone. Despite the amazing positioning, the offense couldn’t get its gears going, and they had to settle for a 33-yard field goal by senior kicker Anthony Perez. This put M-A up 10-7 with 47 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Gauchos remained unfazed, and a huge run on the kick return placed them at the 40-yard line. On the very next play, they then found a hole in the Bears’ coverage, and a catch and run turned into a 60-yard touchdown. The extra point was blocked by Niko, making it 13-10 with El Cerrito in the lead at the end of the third quarter.
The Bears’ offense was able to move the ball downfield, and Dacey connected with Gabriel for a fingertip grab on the sideline to give M-A a huge first down. Facing another third down, a desperation pass was intercepted by the Gauchos, ending one of the Bears’ most promising drives.
Being back up at the two-yard line, El Cerrito didn’t have any room to get positive yardage and had to punt. On the return, senior kick returner Gio Torres had a great run to place the Bears at the 20 yardline, giving them phenomenal field position. Not letting this opportunity go to waste, senior running back Monty Turner broke his way into the end zone, giving the lead back to M-A. Despite the extra point being no good, the Bears were still up 16-13 with 4:23 left in the game.
The Bears’ defense needed one of their biggest stops of the season, but the Gauchos’ offense had a trick up their sleeve. El Cerrito had a receiver fake a screen, allowing one of their blockers to roll out for a catch, taking it for a 54-yard touchdown, 20-16 Gauchos with 3:38 remaining.
With such little time remaining, the Bears were in desperate need of a touchdown. A pass from Dacey to junior tight end Leif Weintz gave M-A the first down. The offense was moving quickly and efficiently, getting two more first downs, but was facing a fourth and 10, with 1:13 left on the clock. The pressure was getting to Dacey, forcing him to scramble out of the pocket, and his pass was broken up, turning the ball over on downs.
The Gauchos ran the clock out, ending the game 20-16 El Cerrito, and concluding the Bears’ season.
“We fought through adversity. We started zero and four, and ended up getting to the NorCal championship,” Fifita said.
“I’ll miss this team more than I will miss the game,” Torres said. “Our team and our season symbolized strength and growth after starting zero and four.”
