San Francisco's last seconds score sinks Sequoias' football team

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

Darius Clark-James delivered the crushing, final-seconds dagger.

But it was several self-inflicted wounds – according to coach Matt Mendonca – that denied a 2-0 start for College of the Sequoias' football team.

Clark-James escaped a near sack on a fourth-and-10 play then found Jeremiah Nash in the right corner of the south endzone for an 18-yard touchdown with 8 seconds remaining as City College of San Francisco stunned the Giants 24-20 in a nonconference game Sept. 6 at Sequoias Stadium.

Sequoias, which entered ranked No. 12 in the state by the JC Athletic Bureau after opening the season with a 21-13 win over then No. 14-ranked American River on Aug. 30, held an 18-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

Perennial state power San Francisco came into the game ranked No. 30 after losing 41-38 against No. 18 Santa Rosa in its opener.

"We've been talking all week that we knew it was going to be chippy," Mendonca said. "We knew there was going to be extracurricular stuff. We knew there was going to be taunting. We knew all that stuff was going to happen, and we tried our best to prepare for that. But guys get out there in the heat of battle, and our egos cost us a win today. We had an opportunity to go 2-0 against two really tough opponents, and we let one slip through our fingertips."

The Giants appeared to take control of the game when Janveer Singh (Tulare Western High) took a pass from Payton Faker (Burien, Wash.) and raced 48 yards for a touchdown with 12 minutes and 49 seconds left in the fourth quarter for a 21-3 lead.

But Sequoias began imploding on the ensuing kickoff.

A false start penalty wiped out a kickoff that would have had San Francisco starting the next possession from its 31-yard line. Micah Hill returned a short kick on the second attempt 28 yards to the Rams' 49, an extra 18 yards of field position.

San Francisco was in the end zone three plays later when Clark-James connected with Zakarri Black for a 38-yard touchdown, trimming the Giants lead to 21-10 with 11:53 remaining.

After a promising start to Sequoias' next drive – featuring a 12-yard completion from Faker to Gage Armbruster (Corcoran) and an 8-yard run by Jahkylle Smith – things began to unravel for the Giants as San Francisco's Joey Lealao and Aloisa Maluia combined for a 12-yard sack of Faker on second down and Sequoias committed the first of three four-quarter personal fouls on third down. 

Facing a four-and 29 from its 32, Sequoias sent out Cael Alkire (Strathmore) to punt. He had averaged 38 yards per kick on his first five attempts. But San Francisco's Brian Dominguez, one of only two Rams rushing the punt, blocked the kick and Mike Turner scooped it up and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown, cutting Sequoias' lead to 21-17 with 9:05 left.

The Giants had another opportunity to put points on the board when Faker hit Dontae Gentles (Sunrise, Fla.) for a 40-yard game on a third and 12 play, moving the ball from Sequoias' 14 to San Francisco's 46.

But the drive stalled as the Giants were hit with 15-yard personal foul penalties on back to back plays, leading to a punt.

Each team went three-and-out on its next possession, with San Francisco getting the ball for the final time with 4:40 left at its 25 following a 41-yard punt by Alkire. 

The Rams then marched 75 yards in 12 plays for the go-ahead score, converting twice on fourth down. The first saw Black haul in a 17-yard pass from Clark-James while needing 6 for a first down with 1:02 left.

Sequoias got a 30-yard pass from Faker to Armbruster on its ensuing possession, but he was unable to get out of bounds before time expired.

"Lack of attention to details and you know, when we lose our composure, that's kind of what happens," Mendonca said. "We had a commanding lead late in the game, and when you get undisciplined and you allow your emotions to affect your ability to execute your fundamentals, and your techniques and your job, that's what it turns into."

After a scoreless first quarter, the Rams got on the board first when Ryan Rodas kicked a 37-yard field goal with 7:19 left in the second. The kick was set up by a 45-yard pass play from Clark-James to an uncovered Isaiah Kesihk.

Sequoias went ahead 7-3 with 10 seconds left before halftime when Faker connected with Marshel Sanders (Clovis West-Fresno) for an 8-yard touchdown that capped an nine-play, 64-yard drive that was set up by an interception from Cassidy Bolong-Banks (Tacoma, Wash.).

The Giants made it 14-3 with 1:26 to play in the third quarter on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Faker to Manuel Murillo (McFarland).

"I thought we had opportunities in that game to really get ahead even farther, and we didn't do it for a number of reasons," Mendonca said. "We let them back in the game. We should have been able to put away a team like that."

Faker and Gentles were bright spots for Sequoias.

Faker, a freshman, completed 28 of 52 passes for 409 yards and three touchdowns. Gentles cause 12 of those passes for 158 yards.

Armbruster had five catches for 112 yards, while Singh caught three passes for 87 yards.

Smith rushed 17 times for 63 yards. 

Defensively, the Giants were led by Bolong-Banks and Pana Tuputala (Federal Way, Wash.), who each had six tackles. Jase Hudson (Gilbert, Ariz.) had five tackles, while Wendell Ware (Edison-Fresno) made two tackles and four pass breakups.

Sequoias outgained San Francisco 479-341 and had a 24-15 edge in first downs.

"It's not like our guys didn't play hard. We played extremely hard," Mendonca said. "I'm just really disappointed in the emotional aspect and how we weren't able to maintain our composure throughout the fourth quarter. That fourth quarter, there were some guys who were really struggling emotionally with what was going on in the game. We've got to get a better grasp of that."

Up next for the Giants is a road game at No. 23 San Jose (1-1), scheduled for 6 p.m. Sept. 13. The Jaguars are one of eight currently state-ranked opponents on Sequoias' schedule.

"When the product isn't what you want, you have to go back and look at the processes and what prevented us from being able to execute those things. That's what we have to take a look at," Mendonca said. "Why did we give up a bust in one of those coverages in the first half for a field goal. How did we, when we talked about it, how did we give up a deep ball for the touchdown. On the blocked punt, they only rushed two guys. How on Earth are we going to give up a blocked punt? It really had nothing to do with the results, but the process and how we operate. We've got to get back and look at schematics, we have to start teaching some different fundamentals and techniques. That way those things don't happen again.

"We don't buy into the moral victory thing here. We've got to get better. And we've got to get better soon because everybody on our schedule is really good."