Friday night the Lincoln Lions rolled into Gunderson High School and took down the Grizzlies, 39-20, to become the only BVAL-Santa Teresa team without a divisional loss. Lincoln (7-1, 6-0) clinched the division title in the process. Gunderson (7-2, 5-1) can still reach the CCS playoffs with a win over Silver Creek next week because the Lions do not participate in the CCS postseason.
Despite the lopsided victory, the intensity of the game was present right down to the final ticks of the clock. Both teams played scrappy, rough-and-tumble football, leaning heavily on their run games to slowly churn out long drives.
For Gunderson, much of the game was placed on the shoulders of sophomore running back DeJon Packer, who made plays not only as an H-back for the Grizzlies’ offense, but also had a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown early in the second quarter.
Lincoln, on the other hand, spread the ball around, using many players in combination to create a lethal offensive unit.
Seniors Mario Hidalgo, Jacob Avery, and Christopher Ortez all found their way into the end zone, as well as sophomore Jacob Hoekstra, who broke a run for 43 yards in the second quarter to secure a lead that the Lions would not relinquish.
Gunderson had some opportunities throughout the game, and managed to keep the game close throughout the first half, which ended with Lincoln leading 20-14. But a few turnovers and missed opportunities caused Gunderson to leave too many points on the field, and it came back to haunt it in the end.
When Lincoln’s opening possession was cut short by a fumble recovered by Gunderson’s Horeish White, the Grizzlies failed to capitalize, instead coughing the ball up themselves a few plays later.
After Lincoln’s following possession resulted in a touchdown, Gunderson had an opportunity to tie the game, but threw an interception in the corner of the end zone, which Lincoln turned into another touchdown on the ensuing drive.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies, down 32-14, looked as if they might come to life when senior free safety Noah Evaristo intercepted an overthrown pass deep in Lincoln territory, but the play was negated by a roughing the passer penalty. Lincoln then drove down the field and put the game away with one more touchdown, going up 39-14.
After the score, the Grizzlies went to the air in an attempt to make a comeback, but were picked off around midfield. However, on the return, the ball was stripped, recovered by the Grizzlies, and run all the way down to the Lincoln 12 yard line. A few plays later Packer ran in one final touchdown from 2 yards out, and a missed extra point made the game 39-20.
Lincoln then ran out the clock.
Despite the loss, Gunderson still has an excellent chance to make CCS, as the Lions will not go to CCS because of a longstanding traditional Thanksgiving Day game against San Jose called the Big Bone.
Even though they know they will not be making an appearance in the playoffs, the Lions are still hungry for the division title.
“We are just playing one week at a time,” said Lions Coach Kevin Collins, “We aren’t even thinking about the Big Bone yet. If we win next week, we will win the division championship outright, which is something we have never done before.”
Next week Lincoln will look to earn its division title by defeating Mt. Pleasant (1-8, 0-6), before going on to play San Jose in the Big Bone, while the Grizzlies hope to bounce back at home against Silver Creek (4-5, 4-2) in a battle for second place and a berth in the CCS playoffs.
