Central Coast edges San Jose 14-13, but team admits looking
toward next week’s game
Gilroy
Central Coast Barnstormers’ owner and player Joffre Longoria admitted he was looking ahead to next week – same with coach Greg Garcia and just about anyone wearing a Barnstormers uniform.
Not to take anything away from Saturday’s first-round NCAFF playoff game versus San Jose, but Central Coast has had its sight set on the Salinas Spartans since Week 3, when the Barnstormers’ newest rival handed them their first regular-season home loss in two years. Central Coast can settle the score next Saturday in the conference semifinals, though, after edging San Jose 14-13 at Gilroy’s Garcia-Elder Sports Complex.
The Spartans, an expansion team with several players that helped lead the Barnstormers to consecutive conference and NorCal championships, advanced with a 72-13 win over Alameda.
“This is what we wanted it to come down to,” Garcia said. “We’ve been thinking about that loss to them all season. It really stuck with us. It was hard not to think about playing them again. I was actually looking at film of them last week.”
Central Coast (6-2 overall, 5-1 South Division) has returned to form since the loss to Salinas, reeling off five straight victories. With each one, began Longoria, the fresh-faced Barnstormers have grown together.
“As far as I’m concerned, we’re still the team to beat,” Longoria said. “Whatever happens during the season happens during the season. The playoffs is what matters. We’re going for a three-peat.
“We’ve had such a solid veteran corps for so many years … and we had a lot of new blood coming in this year. We’re going to have to pull together as a family and make it happen next week.”
Central Coast also must eliminate mistakes, which helped the division-leading Spartans pull away 28-21 win in their previous meeting.
“The only bonus we have are bragging rights,” Longoria added. “And that means even more in the playoffs.”
The Barnstormers never trailed against San Jose (4-4, 3-3) but had to hold off a nail-biting final drive by the Predators in the final three minutes. After a short punt left San Jose at its own 47-yard line, the Predators pushed ahead to the 42 on a draw play to Stefan Fowler. San Jose stalled from there, however, after an incomplete pass by quarterback Andrew Vazquez and a short-yardage run by Fowler. The Predators had a chance to keep the drive alive on fourth-and-five, but Vazquez fired a pass that was just behind a crossing Walter Jenkins.
“Those guys just wouldn’t go away,” Garcia said with a smile. “They never gave up. We really needed our defense to step up there at the end and they came through. It was a big-time effort.”
With five minutes left in regulation, San Jose cut Central Coast’s lead to one at 14-13 on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Vazquez to Johnny Washington Jr. The ensuing extra-point attempt was botched, though, leaving the Barnstormers ahead.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the way we hung in there,” said Predators’ coach Kurt Zubler. “With all the tough breaks we had today, we didn’t lose focus. That says a lot about these guys.”
San Jose out-gained Central Coast 212-142 in yards of total offense, but the Barnstormers won the battle for field position.
Running back Derrick Morrison put Central Coast ahead for good on a 6-yard blast with 8:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. The touchdown came a play after linebacker Tony Beal picked off Vazquez at the Barnstormers’ 6-yard line.
“That was a huge play,” Morrison said. “Since I joined this league four or five years ago, that defense we played against today has been the toughest to run against. They’re great at stopping the run. We got a big break from Tony. He put us in position to score and we did.”
Central Coast held San Jose to minus four yards rushing and forced three turnovers.
Morrison rushed for a game-high 53 yards on 16 attempts, pacing an offense that struggled equally with the pass. Central Coast quarterback Rhett Van De Mark completed 8 of 18 passes for 54 yards, was sacked five times and had his one touchdown pass to tight end Will Lawrence called back for offensive pass interference midway through the fourth quarter. Van De Mark was intercepted by Anthony Palamino early in the second but made the Predators pay with his legs in the first, scoring on an improvised quarterback keeper from 29 yards out.
On fourth-and-six, Van De Mark rolled right, pumped once, rolled left, pumped again, then took off almost untouched, capping an 11-play opening drive to make it 7-0.
“He made some good decisions,” Garcia said. “Rhett’s still working out a couple of kinks, but he’s the guy we need to run this offense and make plays.”
With a little luck, San Jose pulled even when a Vazquez pass was tipped by Obinna Anoruo and cradled by Jenkins, who then sprinted 43 yards for a touchdown. The play was good for 76 yards and knotted the score at 7-all going into halftime.
Vazquez completed 12 of 20 for 216 yards and threw two interceptions – the second stopping a red-zone drive early in the third quarter. Central Coast’s Will Lawrence made the play from his rover position, stepping in front of Vazquez’s pass at the 6-yard line. From there, the Barnstormers mounted a 10-play drive to get out of trouble.
Central Coast squandered a similar scoring opportunity late in the second, following a fumble recovery by Jaime Villarreal in at San Jose’s 36-yard line.
“Both teams made some mistakes,” Garcia said. “We kept them from scoring off of ours – that was the difference.”
