Bonita Does It All, Except That Scoreboard Thing

September 1, 2012

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AJ Greco says "Can't Touch This!"

What a game for Bonita!

The Bearcats didn’t yield a first down to South Hills in the first quarter. The defense also limited the Huskies to 32 total yards in the first half.

On offense, Bonita mounted four separate 40-yard-or-longer drives, including one 65-yard gallop by A.J. Greco. The Bearcats also lined up for three field goals.

Oh, did we mention, Bonita lost 14-0?

How does that happen?

To start the game, Bonita marched the ball from its own 30-yard-line to the Huskies 19-yard line, featuring the pass-handling skills of Victor Magallanes and the ground game of Reggie Turner.

Reggie Turner grinds for yardage.

A five-yard penalty and two incomplete passes later, Brandt Davis floated a 41-yard field goal that missed wide left.

No one at the time, especially the way Bonita had moved the ball down the field, could have suspected that it was going to be a night of missed opportunities for the Bearcats.

After completely throttling the Huskies’ on their first offensive series, Bonita took over at mid-field and drove the ball to the South Hills’ 5-yard-line. The drive included connections from Tanner Diebold to Christian Ramos and Greco. After a run got stuffed for a 2-yard loss and two incomplete passes, Bonita lined up its second field goal attempt of the quarter. Davis’ 24-yard kick was blocked.

“We had some protection problems,” said head coach Adrian Medrano. “You just can’t have leakage up the middle.”

Coming through.

Bonita’s red zone issues grew worse and leakier. In its first offensive series of the second quarter, Bonita took the ball to the Huskies’ 9-yard-line, but turned the ball over on downs after it failed to gain the one desperate yard it needed on critical third and fourth down rushing attempts.

As much as Bonita dominated the first half, it had nothing to show for it. At half-time, the score was 0-0. The zeros on the board were fuller than the moon that illuminated an entertaining half-time, featuring lots of music, marching and dancing.

While Bonita continued its scoreless, wandering ways of the second half, South Hills woke up long enough to put together an impressive, opening 80-yard drive, using a power double-tight end formation. In that one offensive push, the Huskies collected more yards than they did the entire first half. Facing second and goal at the Bearcats 7-yard-line, South Hills quarterback Adam Goss found Matt Boragine tip-toeing the goal line for six points.

Wrapping up the football.

Seconds later, things went from bad to worse for Bonita when South Hills’ Aaron Parham stepped in front of an errant Diebold pass and ran it back untouched into the end zone, vaulting the Huskies to a 14-0 lead after the extra point. After being completely humbled by Bonita in the first half, South Hills scored twice in stunning back-to-back plays.

Meanwhile, it was more frustration for Bonita. On first and 10 at the Bonita 20-yard-line, Greco broke through the line, shook off tacklers and raced all the way down to South Hills’ 15-yard-line, setting up the Bearcats for another scoring opportunity.

Unfortunately, the team reverted to its self-destructive ways. A quarterback sack and a penalty moved Bonita back, and when the Bearcats lined up for yet another field goal try, the 42-yard attempt was blocked again.

“I’m disappointed that we didn’t play with much passion and enthusiasm in the second half,” Medrano said, mulling over all of Bonita’s missteps.

For the remaining minutes of the third and fourth period, neither Bonita nor South Hills could muster much offense. The stalemate between the stagnant offenses continued, the only difference being the Huskies had something to show for it, leaving Glenn Davis stadium a 14-0 winner.

Perhaps, Bonita was still hung over from its tough emotional loss to San Dimas a week earlier. Hopefully, the smelling salts will kick in before Bonita travels to face La Serna next Friday night.