If this season opener is any indication, expect the unexpected from the Bishop Diego and Santa Ynez football teams in 2010.
Both teams provided an assortment of twists and surprises in a dramatic fourth quarter Friday night at SBCC’s La Playa Stadium, and when the fog rolling in from the nearby shore finally settled, the visiting Pirates were all too content to board the bus back home with a 25-16 victory.
It looked like the Cardinals’ game to win, after quarterback Nolan Tisdale rallied his club with two TD passes in a span of 2:42 to bring them to within three points, 19-16, with 6:59 remaining on the clock. With a kicker (Mike Morando) who had plenty of distance on a 50-yard field goal try but missed wide right back in the first quarter, anything was possible for Bishop Diego at that point.
Santa Ynez running back Cole Hollingsworth breaks free for the first of his two touchdown runs. (Vince Agapito Photos)
[ad#Story Embed 1 – 468×60]
Bishop, with momentum clearly aligned in its column, was poised to get the ball back after its defense locked Santa Ynez on a third-and-30 situation with 2:20 to play. The Pirates were fortunate to still have possession after successfuly pulling off a fake punt on a third-and-6 at their own 24 three minutes earlier, when Jr. Alejandre sprinted for a 9-yard gain to the left side from punt formation.
Ryan Welker, who had hooked up with Alejandre for a 21-yard TD pass at the 10:45 spot of the fourth quarter to give the Pirates a seemingly commanding 19-2 lead, gained 12 yards on a quarterback keeper for a first down at the midfield stripe during the Pirates’ manic final possession. But Santa Ynez pulled it in reverse, losing 20 yards with two penalties to set up the third-and-30 with 2:20 left to play.
Alejandre had one more trick to pull, with a deft assist from Welker. With the Cardinals defending for a pass, Welker disguised a handoff to Alejandre and fake-pumped a throw in one swift motion, enabling Alejandre to burst free for a clinching 70-yard TD run. Alejandre slipped out of the hands of one tackler within the first 10 yards of that gain and ran untouched the rest of the way.
“That fourth quarter was more exciting than expected and way more than I wanted it to be,” said Santa Ynez head coach Ken Gruendyke.
Bishop head coach Tom Crawford had a different take.
“We had two opportunities to stop them and get the ball back, with one timeout left,” he noted. “(Alejandre’s 70-yard run) was the dagger. We certainly had the opportunity to create a more exciting finish for us.”
Bishop Diego's Brandon Gonzalez rushed for 68 yards on Friday and added a reception.
Gruendyke knew what the Cardinals were expecting on the game-winning play, and he had the perfect foil in Alejandre.
“We were looking at pass defense (on third-and-30) and we decided, why not go with the fly sweep?” he related. “(Alejandre) has the athletic ability to make things happen, and he did on that play. We had some nice downfield blocks to spring him loose, too.”
The fourth quarter served to spice up a dysfunctional season-opener for two teams trying to re-brand the color pallette– by demonstrating that mixing orange (Pirates) with red (Cardinals) results in yellow (flags). There were 25 penalties called –13 times on Santa Ynez for 115 negative yards and 12 times on Bishop Diege for 95 yards backwards.
“Like most season openers, it was sloppy in many respects. There were a lot of penalties, ” Crawford conceded. “But I like the way our kids didn’t quit. Our kids are capable of generating a lot of energy, and they showed that tonight.”
But mixing orange and red looked a lot more like mud in a first quarter in which penalities stifled both offenses and the only score was by the Cardinal defense. Parker Johnson, who played quarterback the full first half for the Pirates, was scrambling back from his own 19-yard line on play-action when Bishop rusher Chris Helkey penetrated to knock the ball loose from Johnson. The ball rolled further back into the end zone, which a Pirate player managed to cover but was smothered by Helkey for the safety.
Bishop’s offense didn’t look much different in the second quarter. Tisdale couldn’t find his passing touch in the first half, completing only 2-of-8 passes and throwing one interception, by Alejandre, who didn’t even play on the Pirate offensive unit in the first half.
Santa Ynez’s offense finally got untracked in the second quarter, aided by a short Bishop punt (14 yards) from the end zone that gave the Pirates ideal possession at the Cardinal 28. Cole Hollingsworth scored his first of two TD runs on a sweep around the left end from 15 yards out, breaking a tackle from Cardinal defender Bruce Garcia at the 7-yard line on the way. Abraham Santos tacked on the only PAT kick of the night from both teams to give Santa Ynez a 7-2 lead with 3:09 left in the half.
Welker opened the second quarter at QB for the Pirates and immediately ignited their offense by completing his first three passes (not affected by — ahem — a Bishop penalty) for 32 yards. The Pirates weren’t penalty-free on their first possession of the third quarter, with two yellow flags erasing two would-be touchdown passes by Welker.
But the junior quarterback, who stands 5-7 but is quick-footed, still managed to keep the drive going through 14 plays covering 66 yards. Hollingsworth, who wound up with 56 yards on 13 carries, finished the drive with a 4-yard TD run up the middle for a 13-2 Pirates lead with 3:15 remaining in the quarter.
Welker continued to look sharp on his next opportunity under snap. He engineered a 62-yard scoring drive, completing a 14-yard toss to Zach Foss, sprinting for 15 more on a fake option, and benefitting from a pass interference call on Bishop for a first down in the red zone. Shaking off a 1-yard loss on a Helkey tackle, Welker connected on the next play with Alejandre at the right edge of the end zone for a 21-yard TD toss, Alejandre delicately stradling the line to keep his feet inbounds after the catch. That was the score that gave Santa Ynez a 19-2 lead with just 10:45 to go.
Tisdale suddenly found his passing rhythm. After Brandon Gonzalez (68 yards on 13 carries) ripped off successives gains of 15 and 17 yards, Tisdale lofted a deep pass that Nic Mon collected over Pirate defender Jacob Butcheer for a 38-yard touchdown pass with 9:41 left.
Then Santa Ynez’s offense sputtered, forced to punt from its end zone. A short kick gave Bishop possession at the Pirate 31. Tisdale quickly struck for a 16-yard completion to Gonzalez, and two plays later, for a 14-yard TD toss over the middle hauled in by tight end Vince Figueroa. Going with the hot hand, Tisdale hit Paul Garcia for the two-point conversion, shrinking Santa Ynez’s lead to 19-16 with 6:59 remaining.
The comeback wasn’t meant to be when Alejandre jerked the hero’s cape out of Tisdale’s grasp on the next possession.
“I thought (Tisdale) was pretty courageous the way he stood in there,” said Crawford. “We didn’t help him with our protection. They kept coming after him with a lot of people.”
Tisdale finished the night with 8-of-17 completions for 114 yards. Mon caught two for 47 yards and Figueroa two for 23.
Tisdale, a junior, was supposed to split time at quarterback with senior Andrew Saucier. But Saucier left the game on the opening series after injuring his shoulder while playing defense.
“We would have alternated both quarterbacks — it gives us different looks,” said Crawford, who indicated Saucier’s injury appeared to be serious.
Tisdale may have to go solo the rest of the season. At least Friday night’s game offered some hope.
“He did a great job with his reads and getting rid of the ball quickly,” said Crawford. “For his first varsity game, I thought he performed very well.”
[ad#Story Embed 1 – 468×60]
SANTA YNEZ 25, BISHOP DIEGO 16
Santa Ynez.….0 7 6 12 — 25
Bishop Diego…2 0 0 14 —16
FIRST QUARTER
BD– Safety (Helkey tackle), 4:10.
SECOND QUARTER
SY– Hollingsworth 15 run (Santos kick, 3:09.
THIRD QUARTER
SY– Hollingsworth 4 run (kick no good), 3:15.
FOURTH QUARTER
SY– Alejandre 21 pass from Welker (kick no good), 10:45.
BD– Mon 38 pass from Tisdale (kick blocked), 9:41.
BD– Figueroa 14 pass from Tisdale (P.Garcia pass from Tisdale), 6:59.
SY– Alejandre 70 run (kick no good), 2:05.
TEAM STATISTICS SY BD
First Downs……………………………..18 11
Rush Yds/Att……………………………221-46 40-25
Passing Yds……………………………..81 114
Pass Comp-Att-Int…………………….6-19-0 8-17-1
Total Yards…………………………………302 154
Fumbles-Lost…………………………….3-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards……………………………..13-115 12-95
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING– SY: Alejandre 2-79, Hollingsworth 13-56, Miranda 5-26, Ellis 4-16, Welker 7-16, Foss 2-13, Johnson 9-12, Espinosa 2-4, Warning 2 -(-1). BD: Gonzalez 13-68, Valle 2-7, P.Garcia 2-1, B.Garcia 4 -(-4), Tisdale 4- (-32).
PASSING– SY: Johnson 1-9-0-14, Welker 5-10-0-67. BD: Tisdale 8-17-1-114.
RECEIVING– SY: Alejandre 2-36, Foss 2-19, Hollingsworth 1-14, Jensen 1-12. BD: Mon 2-47, Figueroa 2-23, P.Garcia 1-22, Gonzalez 1-16, B.Garcia 1-5, Valle 1-1.
Records– SY 1-0, BD 0-1.
