ARBUCKLE, CA (MPG) – It was the tale of two halves at Gregg LeMaster Field last Friday night as the Pierce Bears played a nearly flawless first half, but took their foot off the gas in the second and had to hang on in order to secure a 24-21 victory over the visiting Amador Buffaloes.
According to Coach Anthony Tapia, Amador was similar in terms of being junior-heavy and he felt that playing a squad from the Sac-San Joaquin Section would be a good measurement of how far along his team was in the early going.
And while the ending was a little too close for comfort, the Bears, who scored on each of their first four possessions, showed the kind of potential they have by immediately setting the tone after Amador deferred the opening kickoff.
Starting at its own 36 yard line, Pierce marched down the field in nine plays, including a fourth and three conversion, to put the first points of the game on the board when Nathan McIntosh took the inside handoff, cut it to the outside and sprinted past the defense for a 30-yard touchdown.
Pierce’s offense didn’t have to wait long to get back on the field though as the defense held the Buffaloes to a three and out yielding just a single yard.
Starting their second drive at their own 44, the Bears again wasted little time, needing just four plays to get back into the end zone, when quarterback Drew Burnum found JR Figueroa behind the defense for a 42-yard score.
With Pierce now leading 14-0, the Buffaloes appeared to recover from the shock and moved into Bear territory for the first time, but an interception by Thomas Sweet just before the end of the first quarter effectively extinguished the threat.
With four passes defensed and an interception in his first varsity start, Tapia says Sweet appears to be one to watch.
As the second quarter dawned, the Bears capitalized on the turnover and added to their total when Burnum hit Damien Navarro in stride and the senior did the rest, out running the defense for the 50-yard touchdown.
Pierce then put what would be its final points of the game on the board just two minutes later, when Francisco Ruiz drilled a 32-yard field goal to make the score 24-0.
While it may have appeared that the game was going to be a complete blowout, the Buffaloes had other ideas, as their quarterback, Brad Blankenheim, led a second half comeback that resulted in 21 unanswered points and a chance for Amador to win it outright after the Buffaloes recovered an onside kick with 1:46 remaining on the clock.
However, the Bear defense rose to the occasion, stopping Amador just short of the line to gain and giving the ball back to their offense, which after a 12-yard gain by Nathan Gomez was able to put the game on ice.
It was exactly the test Tapia said he wanted as he explained after the game.
“First of all, credit to them and their quarterback. It was impressive the way he extended the plays,” said Tapia. “We have a lot of new personnel, so I was having visions of our game against East Nic where we were up early and didn’t score in the second half. But although we have some things to work on, there were some positives for sure.”
In all Pierce rolled up 398 yards of offense, with 260 coming on the ground and 138 through the air.
Gomez was the workhorse carrying 19 times for 122 yards and punishing would-be tacklers, while McIntosh proved elusive, gaining 82 yards on 10 carries.
Tapia was also pleased with Burnum’s performance saying, “Drew played the game we wanted him to have. He hit some big passes which is exactly what we expected.”
On the night the senior quarterback completed six passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns.
Another senior making significant contributions on offense was Navarro who in addition to his 50-yard touchdown reception carried the ball four times for 25 yards.
Defensively, particularly in the first half, the Bears looked formidable, exhibiting strength, speed and athleticism.
Gavin Guynn spearheaded the effort with nine tackles while Rodrigo Velazquez had eight.
Humberto Esqueda applied pressure on the quarterback all game long and caused a fumble that was recovered by Loreno Orsi.
To be sure Pierce must make adjustments given what happened or perhaps more precisely, what didn’t happen in the second half against Amador, but if it can put together a complete game they have a promising future ahead.
Still, the Bears will face another early test tonight when the Clear Lake Cardinals, a North Coast Section team that has beaten them in the last two preseason meetings between the two schools, comes to town.