Los Medanos Mustangs pulled out another close call against the Cabrillo Seahawks last Saturday night, robbing them of the win 35-33.
Mustang wide receiver Terrence Polk had a monster performance, catching several game-changing passes as well as returning an 81-yard punt for a touchdown that seemed to get the teams confidence growing. Polk was quarterback Mike Behr’s target of choice, connecting him with a perfectly thrown pass for 51-yards that ended in a touchdown and helped close up the space against the Seahawks.
Polk had another opportunity to score with a second long pass down the field, but was stopped short on the opposing team’s goal line.
“I felt pretty good,” Polk said. “I’m kind of upset I didn’t get it in though.”
Cabrillo seemed to have the upper hand in the first half of the game scoring on a number of their possessions that had the Stangs look- ing at an 11-point deficit going into half time.
“We were a sputtering first-quarter team,” head coach Chris Shipe said, explaining that last week during the Hartnell game, they had been down by 21 points going into the half. “Now we are only down by 11, and we closed that gap in a matter of six minutes coming into the second half. The guys really fought.”
The ball was part of this late night tug-o- war for a large portion of the evening, each team fighting hard to maintain possession. But each team’s defense put a swift end to those attempts.
Cabrillo took a few more opportunities to increase their lead in the third and fourth quarters but did not remain on top for long.
LMC would not go without a fight. Looking at a score of 33-29, Behr drove the Mustang offense down the field. With the game riding on the line, the quarterback ran a quick scram- ble that led to the game-winning touchdown.
This was not the end of the game howev- er. Cabrillo quarterback Brent Moyer and running back Dylan Jackson put together an impressive drive that had the Seahawks sniffing at LMC’s endzone.
With only 44 seconds left in the second half, Moyer put up a pass intended for wide receiver David DaRosa, only to have the drive halted when Mustang defensive back Darien Anderson grabbed the pass out of the grasp of DaRosa and the win away from the Seahawks.
“This didn’t go the way we wanted it to,” Cabrillo’s head coach Bill Garrison said. “Los Medanos showed the [same] resiliency they showed last week in coming back repeatedly. They made a few more plays than we did.”
With time winding down and LMC players chanting “2 and 0,” the football team recorded the second win of the season and the first win on the road, which is tough for any team. The Stangs were not alone however. Several Mustang fans showed up and lit the night as LMC fought back to steal yet another win from their opponents.
The next game will be at home against the College of the Sequoias Saturday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. The Mustangs are playing with a fire to win and a renewed confidence in their team.
“It’s a great thing to be 2 and 0,” Shipe “We talked about it all week. We came and competed. We finished the second half on a great note tonight and we are 2 and 0.”
Polk finished out the game with four receptions for 128 yards and two touchdowns. His punt return and several catches helped the Mustangs stay in contention with the Seahawks. The defense assisted with two blocked punts that eventually became the difference in the score, as well as two big sacks and, of course, the drive-stop- ping interception by Anderson.
