Dos Pueblos' Michael Spiritosanto breaks through the Rio Mesa line on his way to a long run that ended with center Nicholas Okpysh recovering the ball in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. (Vince Agapito photo)
Let the record show that center Nick Okpysh scored the winning touchdown for the Dos Pueblos football team in its 27-17 non-league game against Rio Mesa on Friday night at Scott O’Leary Stadium.
Okpysh’s play showed what hustle can do for a team. After blocking at the line of scrimmage, he followed quarterback Michael Spiritosanto down the field on a 36-yard run to the end zone. Spiritosanto had the ball knocked out of his hands at the 2-yard line, but Okpysh was right there to recover it and finish the play with the first touchdown of his life.
The score broke a 14-14 tie, and DP went on to post its third straight victory.
“It’s every lineman’s dream to scoop and score, so I’m a happy man,” said Okpysh, a 6-1, 226-pound senior.
Spiritosanto, who rushed for 114 yards on 19 carries and scored a touchdown, busted through Rio Mesa tacklers and appeared to be on his way for a second score.
DP wide receiver, Jackson Burke, makes a break after catching a pass from Michael Spiritosanto in the 3rd quarter.
“A guy came from my right side that I didn’t see and he punched the ball out of my hand,” Spiritosanto said. “Luckily, Nick was trailing the ball the whole time and it went right into his arms for a touchdown. He deserved it, definitely. Everyone should get a touchdown.”
The ever-alert Okpysh saw the ball pop out of his quarterback’s arm and roll on the turf.
“I was the closest one there and scooped it up and just hopped in the end zone and fell down so it was assured we got the points,” he said.
The touchdown deflated a Rio Mesa team that had fought back from a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter.
Dos Pueblos drove 65 yards on seven plays to score on their first possession. Josh Bartley ran 21 yards around right end for the touchdown.
A muffed punt return by the Spartans gave Dos Pueblos the ball at their 19, and Spiritosanto scored three plays later on a 1-yard run.
The lost fumble was Rio Mesa’s second of the first period.
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“I think the football gods were looking at us nicely tonight to start,” Dos Pueblos coach Jeff Uyesaka said. “It gave us a cushion because they were going to score with all their weapons and power. Rio Mesa is a very good football team. They beat us here last year so we had respect for them coming in.”
The first-quarter mistakes frustrated Rio Mesa coach Bob Gregorchuk, whose team fell to 2-2.
“We kept shooting ourselves in the foot,” he said. “(Dos Pueblos) is a really good team and they’re definitely going to capitalize on you. You can’t give good teams opportunities.”
Rio Mesa regrouped after the second DP score and got back in the game. A 47-yard kickoff return by Marcus Alford helped the Spartans get going.
Quarterback Christian McNair keyed the touchdown drive with a 20-yard run. McNair was starting in place of Blair Benchwick, who learned Tuesday that he was suffering from a concussion.
“Blair got a concussion on Monday not knowing it,” Gregorchuk said. “He practiced Tuesday and he was acting weird. We had him checked out on Wednesday.”
McNair pitched to running back Jordan Nunnery and the speedster bolted 20 yards to make it a 14-7 game with 3:03 left in the first quarter.
The Spartans’ defense came up with a big play to set up the tying score. Michael Thomas intercepted a Spiritosanto pass and returned it 20 yards. A personal foul penalty on DP put the ball on the Charger 39.
Using one of his speedy playmakers, McNair hit Alford on a wide receiver screen and Alford cut across the field and ran away from defenders for a 33-yard touchdown that tied the score at 14-14 with 6:30 left in the second quarter.
“We had a few wrinkles here and there, and Marcus is fast,” said Gregorchuk. “We’re a track team. When we get our track guys the ball and they’re going to make something happen.”
But Rio Mesa (2-2) couldn’t sustain the momentum in the second half.
That had a lot to do with Dos Pueblos’ defensive strategy.
“We told them at halftime the first guy is not going to make the knockout hit,” said Uyesaka about containing Rio Mesa’s speed guys. “The first guy is going to hold him up and the next guy is going to wrap him up and then put the hit on him. We tried to get the KO (in the first half) and that wasn’t working and they were scoring.”
The Spartans fumbled on their first possession of the third quarter and Anthony Sassola of DP recovered.
“They came out jacked and it just starts rolling down hill, and it’s hard to push back up hill when the momentum is coming at you,” Gregorchuk said of the Chargers. “They are a really good team.”
Spiritosanto scrambled for 25 yards on one play and then took off on the long run that ended with Okpysh holding the ball in the end zone.
The Chargers (3-2) made it 27-14 when Bartley threw a 40-yard halfback-option pass to Tommie Arias for a touchdown.
“That was cool,” Spiritosanto said. “I think he has as many touchdown passes as me. I’m glad he put it where it needed to be.”
Gregorchuk was impressed with the Chargers’ 1-2 backfield punch.
“They have a great combination of a big, strong powerful runner (Spiritosanto) and the off-speed pitch there with Bartley,” said the Rio Mesa coach.
“He seemed possessed,” Uyesaka said of Spiritosanto. “A guy like that, you give him the ball and let him take care of business.”
Rio Mesa…7 7 0 3 — 17
Dos Pueblos…14 0 13 0 — 27
First quarter
DP — Bartley 21 run (Bornand kick), 9:27
DP — Spiritosanto 1 run (Bornand kick), 5:31
RM — Nunnery 20 run (Dominguez kick), 3:03
Second quarter
RM — Alford 33 pass from McNair (Dominguez kick), 6:30
Third quarter
DP — Okpysh recovers fumble in end zone (Bornand kick), 6:13
DP — Arias 40 pass from Bartley (kick blocked), 1:52
Fourth quarter
RM — FG 24, Dominguez, 9:26
RM DP
First downs… 12 13
Rushes-yards… 36-197 33-153
Passing yards…57 49
Total yards…254 202
Passes…7-13-0 8-15-1
Fumbles-lost…3-3 1-0
Penalties-yards…3-15 5-40
Individual Statistics
Rushing—RM: Nunnery 15-84, Wrout 15-68, McNair 2-12, Thomas 4-13. DP: Spiritosanto 19-114, Bartley 11-53, Sassola 1-(minus 9), Soto 1 (minus 7), Okpysh 1-2.
Passing—RM: McNair 7-13-0, 57 yards. DP—Spiritosanto 6-12-1, 40 yards. Soto 2-3-0, 9 yards.
Receiving—RM: Alford 4-52, Nunnery 1-(minus 12), Thomas 1 (minus 2), Quantock 1-19. DP: Arias 2-13, Powell 1-11, Sassola 2-3, Burke 1-17, Bartley 1-(minus 4), Roberts 1-9.
