With their eyes on a CCS berth, the Gunn Titans busted the Cupertino Pioneers defense wide open, winning 33-6 in front of family and friends who came out to cheer on the Titans for their Senior Night. The win puts Gunn in a tie for first place (6-2, 4-0) with Monta Vista for the SCVAL El Camino league title, and the winner will be decided this Friday when the two heavyweights collide in Cupertino.
The night opened with an emotional tribute to Gunn’s 19 graduating seniors, but it was junior running back Sean Lydster who stole the show. Lydster scored three touchdowns for the Titans including a 70-yard run that opened the scoring late in the first quarter.
Lydster is going to miss the group of seniors that he’s grown a strong bond for over the past three years.
“The seniors are motivated to win, and I’ve been playing with them since I was a freshman," Lydster said, "so I see the dedication that they have out of football.”
Cupertino (7-2, 3-2) started the season off 6-0, but the Pioneers have slipped down to fourth place in league and have only an outside chance of making it to CCS. Nonetheless, they made it very difficult for the Titans as it was only 14-6 at the end of the half. After Gunn quarterback Andre Guzman found Kevin Sharp on a 15-yard touchdown pass to put the Titans up 14-0, Cupertino came right back and jammed its way into the end zone to pull within 8 points after a missed PAT just before the end of the half.
Any wind that the Pioneers had in their sails died out at halftime, and Lydster picked up the momentum on a 35-yard touchdown run. Gunn never looked back as they surged on to put the game away handily on two more rushing touchdowns from Lydster and Marcus Moreno-Ramos.
Senior linebacker Calvin Membreno sealed the game with his first interception of the season, capping off a memorable night for the seniors.
“When I got the interception, my body was extremely tired bur my mind was completely focused on securing the ball and running to evade defenders,” Membreno said. “It felt great to beat Cupertino because we’ve been putting in a lot of work throughout the season and it’s good seeing results.”
“It’s our goal to win league,” Lydster added. That’s the goal on every Titan’s mind now. With 19 seniors, the Titans have a tremendous opportunity to make it to CCS if they’re able to beat Monta Vista this Friday.
“We know if we win this week at Monta Vista then we’ll have our destiny in our hands, which could include a league championship," said senior kicker Ben Sampson. "After that, depending on our CCS seeding, we could go deep in the playoffs.”
The Titans travel to Monta Vista Friday night for the biggest game of the SCVAL El Camino season.
