2008 Woodie Awards
Bear Cubs ripped the Mustangs apart
Filippo Goodman
Issue date: 10/14/05 Section: Sports
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A quick evaporation of an eight-point fourth-quarter lead proved that the learning curve is still in effect for the young Mustangs, as they were ultimately defeated 39-34.
Despite the idyllic weather conditions, the game at DeRicco Field took on an ugly mood early. Two head-spinning, quick touchdowns in the first few minutes of the game gave Santa Rosa a 13-0 lead, creating the appearance that the Mustangs were going to get chased off their own field.
The quieted crowd yielded to the irritating moan of the faulty public announce system throughout the first quarter.
"It was almost as if we spotted them those [first two touchdowns] points, and it really put us in a hole. Things looked bad for us early," said DB Nick Marshall.
Sandwiched in between the first and the fourth quarter was a sense that the teams switched jerseys. Delta went on a 31-6 run, through disciplined, albeit unspectacular offense, that rested on pitches and tosses and an opportunistic defense.
The Bear Cubs, who have put up gaudy numbers on both offense and defense this season, seemed to be unfamiliar, and clearly rattled with their new position as whipping boy. Naturally, Delta's confidence expanded as they were spinning off of emotion and the frenzy of the crowd
"Once we got into the rhythm of the game we obviously started to play a whole lot better," said Marshall.
That adaptation to the rhythm produced an exciting 71-yard touchdown run by RB Lionel Scott, and two fumble recoveries for touchdowns by DB Eric Stallworth, and LB Steven Hunkin respectively.
With a comfortable 34-26 lead midway through the fourth quarter, things started to fall apart rapidly for the Mustangs. Santa Rosa was able to dominate the final minutes of the fourth quarter, reeling off 13 straight unanswered points via passing touchdowns, to jump back out to a 39-34 advantage.
In conjunction with their late-game offensive awakening, Santa Rosa was able to bottle up the Mustangs' offense; most notably, the Bear Cubs snuffed out the Mustang's last drive, when Combie threw a midfield interception with seconds left in the game..
Despite a valiant effort, when the dust settled the rankings stayed true to form. As a result, Delta won't be searching too hard for consolation prizes.
"It's hard to take anything from this loss; we should have won the game. The result of the game ultimately falls on the offense," said QB Jeff Combie.
A somber coach Barlow added, "We take no consolation, "[in the loss] I'm not even going to say this was a game we could have won; this is a game we should have won."