October 17, 2015, 05:00 AM By Nathan Mollat, Daily Journal
The Carlmont football team did almost everything right to beat Jefferson Friday night in Belmont. The Scots controlled the ball and the clock, ran 64 plays to the Grizzlies’ 42, out-gained Jefferson by a yard and held the normally potent Grizzlies offense to less than 300 yards of offense.
The key word here is “almost” because the only numbers that matter were on the scoreboard, and that is where Jefferson bettered the Scots — 21-14. “I believe this is a game we should have had,” said Carlmont coach Rich Gianuario. “I’m disappointed. It’s a tough loss.”
Jefferson (2-0 PAL Lake, 5-1 overall) can thank its defense and punt return unit for pulling out the win. The Grizzlies defense, despite being on the field for what seemed like the entire game, stiffened when it needed to. They stopped Carlmont (1-1, 2-4) on downs twice in the first half with the Scots driving and later the Grizzlies came away with a fumble recovery at their own 18.
“I went to my quarterback Damari (Cual-Davis) and said, ‘I think you’ve played five minutes,’” said Jefferson coach Will Maddox. But the biggest play of the game came late in the third quarter. After seeing a 7-0 halftime lead turn into a 14-7 deficit in the third, Jefferson got a 14-yard touchdown run from Cual-Davis to tie the score and about three minutes later, the Grizzlies took the lead for good. The Jefferson defense forced the Scots to punt deep in their end. The punt was short, but instead of letting the ball bounce and be downed by Carlmont, Jefferson return man David Benjamin Jr. came sprinting past midfield, fielded the ball on the dead run and bolted 45 yards for the score to put Jefferson up 21-14. “At halftime, we told them all we need is a spark,” Maddox said. “We needed someone to make a big play. That was the spark we needed.” Carlmont took the ensuing kickoff and, starting from its own 28, got as far as the Jefferson 38 before turning the ball over on downs.
With just over five minutes to play, the normally explosive Jefferson offense instead became methodical as the Grizzlies simply ran the remaining five-plus minutes off the clock to secure the victory.Cual-Davis led the Jefferson offense with 111 yards rushing on 17 carries, but he was just 7 for 11 passing for 78 yards.
“We had a good defensive game plan,” Gianuario said.
Carlmont, which racked up 242 yards rushing, was led by Jake Kumamoto, who rushed 109 yards on 21 carries. Cutler Pons had 52 yards on seven carries and scored on a 31-yard run during which he broke about six tackles as he kept his legs churning. After Jefferson forced Carlmont to punt on the first drive of the game, the Grizzlies went to work. It appeared Carlmont had them stopped and forced a punt, but a running into the punter penalty against Carlmont gave Jefferson another shot. Instead of punting, Cual-Davis hooked up Armaan Harlin for a 27-yard gain and a first down. Seven plays later, Caul-Davis found Roshawn Livingston in the front corner of the end zone for a 7-0 Jefferson lead.
The score stayed that way until the third quarter, when the Grizzlies’ inability to field a kickoff resulted in a pair of fumbles recovered by Carlmont that the Scots turned into 14 points. Carlmont recovered a fumble on the second-half kickoff and Kumamoto capped a 11-play, 37-yard drive with game-tying score from 4 yards out.
Carlmont recovered another fumble on the ensuing kickoff and this time it was Pons who used a bruising run from 31 yards out to give the Scots a 14-7 lead.
When Jefferson finally held onto the ball, it took advantage, needing just eight plays to go 68 yards. Cual-Davis tied the score at 14 following a 14-yard run, setting up Benjamin’s punt-return heroics minutes later.
“It was a tough one,” Maddox said. “We kind of underestimated these guys (Carlmont).”
The Carlmont football team did almost everything right to beat Jefferson Friday night in Belmont. The Scots controlled the ball and the clock, ran 64 plays to the Grizzlies’ 42, out-gained Jefferson by a yard and held the normally potent Grizzlies offense to less than 300 yards of offense.
The key word here is “almost” because the only numbers that matter were on the scoreboard, and that is where Jefferson bettered the Scots — 21-14. “I believe this is a game we should have had,” said Carlmont coach Rich Gianuario. “I’m disappointed. It’s a tough loss.”
Jefferson (2-0 PAL Lake, 5-1 overall) can thank its defense and punt return unit for pulling out the win. The Grizzlies defense, despite being on the field for what seemed like the entire game, stiffened when it needed to. They stopped Carlmont (1-1, 2-4) on downs twice in the first half with the Scots driving and later the Grizzlies came away with a fumble recovery at their own 18.
“I went to my quarterback Damari (Cual-Davis) and said, ‘I think you’ve played five minutes,’” said Jefferson coach Will Maddox. But the biggest play of the game came late in the third quarter. After seeing a 7-0 halftime lead turn into a 14-7 deficit in the third, Jefferson got a 14-yard touchdown run from Cual-Davis to tie the score and about three minutes later, the Grizzlies took the lead for good. The Jefferson defense forced the Scots to punt deep in their end. The punt was short, but instead of letting the ball bounce and be downed by Carlmont, Jefferson return man David Benjamin Jr. came sprinting past midfield, fielded the ball on the dead run and bolted 45 yards for the score to put Jefferson up 21-14. “At halftime, we told them all we need is a spark,” Maddox said. “We needed someone to make a big play. That was the spark we needed.” Carlmont took the ensuing kickoff and, starting from its own 28, got as far as the Jefferson 38 before turning the ball over on downs.
With just over five minutes to play, the normally explosive Jefferson offense instead became methodical as the Grizzlies simply ran the remaining five-plus minutes off the clock to secure the victory.Cual-Davis led the Jefferson offense with 111 yards rushing on 17 carries, but he was just 7 for 11 passing for 78 yards.
“We had a good defensive game plan,” Gianuario said.
Carlmont, which racked up 242 yards rushing, was led by Jake Kumamoto, who rushed 109 yards on 21 carries. Cutler Pons had 52 yards on seven carries and scored on a 31-yard run during which he broke about six tackles as he kept his legs churning. After Jefferson forced Carlmont to punt on the first drive of the game, the Grizzlies went to work. It appeared Carlmont had them stopped and forced a punt, but a running into the punter penalty against Carlmont gave Jefferson another shot. Instead of punting, Cual-Davis hooked up Armaan Harlin for a 27-yard gain and a first down. Seven plays later, Caul-Davis found Roshawn Livingston in the front corner of the end zone for a 7-0 Jefferson lead.
The score stayed that way until the third quarter, when the Grizzlies’ inability to field a kickoff resulted in a pair of fumbles recovered by Carlmont that the Scots turned into 14 points. Carlmont recovered a fumble on the second-half kickoff and Kumamoto capped a 11-play, 37-yard drive with game-tying score from 4 yards out.
Carlmont recovered another fumble on the ensuing kickoff and this time it was Pons who used a bruising run from 31 yards out to give the Scots a 14-7 lead.
When Jefferson finally held onto the ball, it took advantage, needing just eight plays to go 68 yards. Cual-Davis tied the score at 14 following a 14-yard run, setting up Benjamin’s punt-return heroics minutes later.
“It was a tough one,” Maddox said. “We kind of underestimated these guys (Carlmont).”
