WILLIAMS, CA (MPG) – Although it wasn’t easy, the Williams Yellowjackets sent the homecoming crowd home happy last Friday night at McCarl Field when they held off Los Molinos in the second half to secure the 33-26 Mid-Valley League win.
In the first half Julian Garcia scored on a 44-yard run and Matthew Cervantes tacked on another touchdown when he found the end zone from 35 yards away, but the Bulldogs answered, sending the two teams into the locker room at intermission deadlocked at 13.
game against Los Molinos.
However, the ‘Jackets came out in the third quarter and set the tone, needing just four plays after receiving the kickoff to take a 20-13 lead after Cervantes connected with Varion Gonzalez who dove in for the score.
Then after the Williams’ defense held Los Molinos to a three-and-out on the ensuing possession, the offense put together a 10-play drive, featuring running back Ricardo Medina, that chewed up four minutes of clock.
Medina, who punished would-be tacklers all night long, capped the march with a burst up the middle for the seven-yard touchdown.
Yet, the Yellowjackets couldn’t shake the Bulldogs as they responded with a 75-yard drive of their own to draw within seven points, then had an opportunity to tie it after scoring again with just over eight minutes remaining in the game.
Fortunately for the ‘Jackets though, they blocked the subsequent PAT attempt to maintain a one-point advantage at 27-26.
Continuing to hold the momentum, Williams then embarked on another long drive that culminated with Medina again outracing the Bulldog defense, this time taking it 25 yards to the house and giving his team some breathing room.
Nonetheless in the aftermath of the touchdown, an unsportsmanlike penalty and a kick out of bounds gave Los Molinos a chance with good field position at their own 45 and plenty of time left on the clock.
But on the first play of the Bulldogs’ final drive, Garcia intercepted a pass that extinguished the threat.
Putting the ball in Medina’s hands to run out the clock, the junior did just that and allowed his team to end the game in victory formation.
On the night Medina, who said he was on a mission “to get the win” rushed 27 times for 161 yards and two touchdowns, exemplifying the physicality the Yellowjackets displayed as they rolled up 494 yards of total offense, their highest of the season thus far.
Also making a major contribution to the ‘Jackets’ offensive success was Cervantes, who gained 102 on 12 carries in addition to completing 10 of 13 passes for 151 yards.
Garcia also pitched in with 80 yards rushing, while Gonzalez caught three balls for 56 yards.
Still, Williams also got a big lift from its defense, led by Julio Rosales, who finished the night with 17 total tackles.
Medina also did his part making 13 tackles, Rigoberto Ramirez collected 9 and Garcia added eight to the total.
Overall, Coach Forrest Bateman felt his squad was playing with a bit of a chip on its shoulder in this most recent outing, putting forth an effort that was perhaps the best he has seen in his tenure.
“We couldn’t do it the easy way, we had to do it the hard way, but this is the most complete game offensively we’ve had in nearly three years,” Bateman said. “We were physically just better on both sides of the ball. It’s the best I’ve seen Matt play. It’s the best the O-line has played. We just worked and worked during the bye week and it paid off. One of our goals is that we are going to show people that we can play with them physically and that we are going to play smashmouth football no matter what.”
Looking to build on the win, the Yellowjackets (3-2, 1-0) head to Portola this evening to take on the Tigers (1-4, 0-2).