ORINDA, CA - Miramonte showed Dublin what it meant to have a consistent run game and lockdown defense Friday night as the Matadors executed a 35-0 shutout in front of a loud home crowd.
Miramonte established its running game early in the first quarter when, after piecing together a nice drive, running back Rene Clark pounded in a 9-yard run to put up the first points of the game. Clark would score two more touchdowns for the Matadors; one 3-yard run in the second and another 14-yard run in the third. He contributed 172 of Miramonte's 252 total rushing yards during the game.
“We really dominated at the line of scrimmage, which made it really easy to run the ball,” Clark said. “It was without a doubt our best rushing performance.”
Quarterback Drew Anderson, who completed 6-of-13 passes with no interceptions, capitalized after getting the ball back off a Dublin interception, connecting with Will Fuller on a 59-yard bomb with time running down in the first half to give his team a comfortable 21-0 lead going into halftime.
Getting back to its explosive ground game in the third quarter, Miramonte scored its last touchdown off of another big play, this time a 48-yard run by Jonothan McDonald, when he wove through the Dublin defense, hit the left sideline, and sprinted into the end zone for the score.
The Gaels had two shots at the end zone with seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, however quarterback Josh Nobida’s first pass was broken up, and the second, which was initially signaled a touchdown, was then overturned and ruled incomplete.
“Our defense did a tremendous job all night long for us,” Miramonte coach Jack Schram said after the game. “But It was a complete victory, our offense did what they had to do. We ran the ball way better than we’ve ran the ball all year so you have to give a lot of credit to the offensive line. We did have too many turnovers and too many penalties, so we have stuff we can work on and get better from here, but we’ll take a 35-0 shutout any day of the week.”
Dublin’s offense combined for 200 yards on the night. Nobida was 3-of-14 for 62 yards and an interception and contributed 30 of his team's 138 total yards rushing. Running back Darrell Millinder had 99 yards on 20 carries.
Miramonte’s passing and running attack brought in 387 yards; 135 in the air and 252 on the ground. Clark ran for 172 yards and three touchdowns, while Anderson threw for 135 yards, 129 of which were to receivers Fuller and Dominic Paoletti.
Next Friday, Miramonte will travel across town and take on rival Campolindo, and Dublin will host Dougherty Valley.
