BRENTWOOD — After two hours on the team bus, Los Gatos wanted a very little additional time Friday night time to protected a content experience residence. The No. 7 Wildcats scored 31 unanswered points — 24 in the second 50 % — to conquer No. 14 Liberty, 38-17.
By way of its first two games, Los Gatos can really a lot be summed up as: have workforce, will journey. And 1 a lot more detail: will gain. Very last week, the Wildcats arranged a past-minute contest on the other aspect of the Santa Cruz mountains and rolled more than a single of the Sacramento area’s top rated teams.
“Getting on the bus, we explained this is a enterprise excursion,” coach Mark Krail said. “To get on the street and just take on this Liberty group, that’s fairly superior. The 2nd fifty percent speaks to our fellas.”
Enjoying its initial sport of the year, Liberty at initial seemed primed to pull off a delicate upset.
Nate Bell, the Lions’ electrical 5-foot-8 quarterback, led a pair of landing drives and set up another field intention when throwing for 205 yards in the initial fifty percent.
Los Gatos, which forced 5 turnovers in its gain final 7 days, came up vacant-handed through two quarters.
But the Lions gave the Wildcats a gift with less than 2 minutes to go in the 50 %, even now leading 17-7. Experiencing fourth down, Liberty known as on its punt unit. The snap was low, and punter Tashi Dorje’s knee hit the floor right before he booted the ball.
Los Gatos took in excess of at the Liberty 25-property line and was in the end zone inside a number of performs, when quarterback Jake Boyd identified running back Jaylen Thomas in the flat for the score from eight yards out.
The Lions recurring their distinctive teams error on a further punt in the 2nd fifty percent, environment up a 47-garden touchdown bomb from Boyd to senior Quinn Merritt. The landing created it 24-17, and Los Gatos hardly ever relinquished the lead.
Wil Dal Porto ensured the defense arrived up with one particular takeaway in the 2nd 50 percent. Bell tried to come across his managing again on a wheel route, but Lucas White tipped the move and Dal Porto came down with it.
“They’re a nicely-coached group that does not make mistakes, and we made a few,” Liberty coach Matt Hoefs claimed. “We couldn’t recover.”
Bell used his legs to elude defenders in the backfield — the Wildcats didn’t record a sack — and completed 19 of his 42 pass attempts for 242 yards, all but 37 coming in the initially fifty percent. He was also the Lions’ primary rusher, with 64 yards, such as a 34-property scramble that set up their initial rating.
Boyd concluded 10 of 17 passes for 159 yards in his 2nd career commence.
The Wildcats have but to turn the ball about with Boyd beneath centre. Through two video games, their turnover ratio is moreover-six.
Boyd did not toss an incompletion in the next 50 percent with the offense buoyed by junior operating back Emiliano Mejia. Trailing 17-14 out of halftime, the Wildcats handed the ball off 10 straight instances to set up the game-tying field aim.
Mejia went more than 100 yards hurrying as he assisted ice the video game in the fourth quarter. Fellow runner Caspian Bailey concluded with two touchdowns on the ground.
They’ll take a properly-acquired seat for the very long bus experience again to campus.
“We’ll be jumping and dancing, actively playing songs,” Dal Porto explained.
Each and every journey back to Los Gatos ends the similar way: speed bumps.
“Everyone jumps in the front of the bus when we go more than the front,” Dal Porto said. “Then anyone jumps in back again. It’s truthfully tremendous amusing.”
