Waiting two years to extend its winning streak to three games
over Gavilan, the De Anza College Dons wasted little time Saturday
when it scored in each quarter to post a convincing 35-9 victory
over the Rams in Cupertino.
CUPERTINO
Waiting two years to extend its winning streak to three games over Gavilan, the De Anza College Dons wasted little time Saturday when it scored in each quarter to post a convincing 35-9 victory over the Rams in Cupertino.
While a light failure at Gilroy High canceled the 2009 showdown between the two former Coast Conference rivals, De Anza jumped out to a 14-0 halftime lead Saturday. And when Gavilan threatened to make a game of it with the first nine points of the second half, the Dons responded with the game’s final three touchdowns.
“We were missing three starters on offense — a running back, receiver and offensive lineman,” Gavilan coach John Lango said. “Our defense played hard, caused some turnovers, although we missed some tackles.”
Dan Atencio, the former Gavilan coach who is now in his fourth season leading De Anza, lauded his defense for taking control of the game in the final 20 minutes.
“We were big and active on defense,” Atencio said. “The offense was pretty good, but more of our athletes were on defense and it showed. We’ve put a lot of work on conditioning and it helped out in the second half.”
De Anza almost doubled the offensive output of Gavilan. The Dons finished with 316 yards of total offense, Gavilan with 162.
The Dons used sophomore letterman Ryan Stillwell for most of the contest. Stillwell finished 21 of 32 through the air for 202 yards, connecting on a pair of touchdowns as well as two interceptions. Transfer Jerry Slota added 39 yards on a 2 of 4 backup effort.
Gavilan went with Milpitas product Cameron Hernandez to start at quarterback. Hernandez was inconsistent, finishing with 68 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions on 9 of 18 passing.
Backup quarterback Sean Berglund was 6 of 14 passing for 44 yards. Berglund had a tough first play, finding his slant pass to start the second quarter returned 54 yards for a touchdown on an interception by De Anza’s William Davis.
De Anza took the opening kickoff and marched inside the Gavilan 10 before giving the ball up on downs when Ram Bryan Gutierrez stuffed a fourth-and-one running play for a loss. The Dons regained possession at the Ram 43 following a punt and needed only four plays to take a 7-0 lead.
After Stillwell and Slota combined for a 41-yard pass play to the Gavilan 1, Slota ran a power play off-tackle for the touchdown with 8:35 left in the quarter.
After Davis gave De Anza a 14-0 cushion, the Dons had another extensive march in the second quarter that earned six first downs before a fumbled snap gave Gavilan the ball at the 9.
Ryan Costa, who was called on to punt 10 times for the Rams, ignited the team two minutes into the second half with a diving interception on the Dons’ 41. Hernandez gained one first down with a nine-yard scramble, then threaded a 27-yard touchdown pass to Andre Cornell behind the De Anza defense. Jeff Roberts added the point-after kick to leave it 14-7 De Anza with 12:15 left in the third quarter.
Gavilan added a safety less than one minute later. Luis Padilla’s kickoff reached the end zone for a touchback. A second-down play resulted in a safety when a high snap over Slota’s head forced the quarterback to fall on the ball in the end zone with 11:22 to go in the quarter.
Gavilan could not register another first down for the next 18 minutes, however, and De Anza roared back with three touchdowns.
De Anza, a new member of the Golden Gate Conference, converted three third-down plays on a 73-yard touchdown march. Stillwell pitched a seven-yard toss into the right corner of the end zone to Shane Miller with 1:32 left in the third.
De Anza’s next touchdown came on a blocked Costa punt with 11:40 left in the contest. Daniel Robertson made the block and Kwasi Achiaw pounced on the pigskin to leave De Anza up 28-9. The Dons turned their next possession into a six-play march covering 48 yards. Stillwell’s nine-yard swing pass to Matthew Barquira completed the scoring.
James Gaynor, Gavilan’s workhorse running back, covered 40 yards on 14 rushes. Cornell and Excaliber Holder each had six receptions for Gavilan.
The Rams will return to Gilroy for the home opener of the 2010 season next Saturday against Merced College. Kickoff is 1 p.m., at Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
