By JOHN MURPHY @ Prep2Prep.com
November 14, 2015
PACIFICA, CA – Fueled by the emotion of playing for a fallen teammate and refusing to buckle after trailing by 14 points early, Terra Nova stormed back to defeat Half Moon Bay 38-28 on Friday night.
The Senior Night victory in the “Skull Game” rivalry contest also avenged a difficult 49-48 loss to the Cougars last season. Terra Nova has now defeated Half Moon Bay in four of its last seven games against the Cougars, dating back to 2010.
The aroused Tigers were playing for not only themselves, but their starting, 6-foot-1, 315-pound defensive lineman Mace Iaulualo. Iaulualo was in an auto accident more than a week ago and is still in intensive care, said Terra Nova coach and longtime Coastline resident Tim Adams.
“He just went through his third surgery in seven days and some pins have been placed in his left ankle, along with a plate and he’s probably going to be in the hospital until after Thanksgiving,” said Adams, a former Serra High star. “He’s still in ICU with his dad. We’re thankful that he’s alive.”
The Tigers wore “75” stickers on the backs of their helmets – Iaulualo’s jersey number.
“He was a huge inspiration for us today,” Adams said. “We’re very grateful he and his father are both alive because it was very, very close.”
Iaulualo, a junior, is a two-year starter for the Tigers whom Adams calls the “rock of our defensive line” -- a force that had to be replaced by multi players as Terra Nova shuffled offensive linemen to defense to plug the hole.
Trailing 14-0 early in the second quarter, Terra Nova (5-5) finally broke through with 9:45 left on Saini Saini’s 45-yard touchdown run down the right side of the field.
“Practice, practice, practice,” Saini said. “We did this for Mace; it was all for Mace. It’s really hard seeing our brother go down, but we knew what we had to do tonight and we got the job done.”
Terra Nova crept to within 14-10 with 9:43 left in the third quarter on Romario Orellana’s 23-yard field goal. Senior quarterback Joey Pledger connected on 5-of-7 passes for 34 yards on the march.
Midway through the third quarter, Terra Nova’s Brandon Auelua intercepted a pass by Half Moon Bay’s Gavin Tomberlin. Saini put the Tigers in scoring position with a 74-yard run down the right side and Reggie Auelua (brother of Brandon and running back Randall Auelua) scored from the 4 to give Terra Nova a lead (17-14) it never relinquished. Reggie Auelua had three short second-half scoring runs for Terra Nova.
“It started off pretty slow,” Reggie said. “We didn’t really come together as a team and play like we wanted to the first half. It feels really good (to win) for our seniors and for our brother Mace."
Reggie Auelua’s 1-yard TD plunge with 7:41 left in the game increased TN’s lead to 24-14. Things then looked really bad for HMB when star receiver/kick return man Pablo Gutierrez fumbled on the kickoff and TN recovered. But a bad snap out of the shotgun by the Tigers was covered by the Cougars who capitalized on Tomberlin’s 31-yard TD pass to Gutierrez. There was still 4:48 left.
But there was no stopping TN which used a short Half Moon Bay kickoff and a 35-yard run by Pledger to set up Reggie Auelua’s third score, a 1-yard run with 4:32 left. About two minutes later – after an incomplete pass on fourth-and-11 from HMB’s own 14 -- the Tigers cashed in again on Pledger’s 16-yard TD run around the left side to make it 38-21.
But Half Moon Bay refused to quit, as Gutierrez took the ensuing kickoff and weaved 91 yards down the right side to make it 38-28 with 2:19 left, stoking the hopes of HMB's large contingent of fans. But TN recovered the ensuing onside kick to all but win it for the Tigers.
“We didn’t execute well,” Half Moon Bay coach Keith Holden said. “You can’t play a good football team and not execute well and win. We had our opportunities and didn’t take advantage of them and didn’t make plays when we needed to.”
Said Gutierrez: “We just need to play our game. We need to execute better on offense and defense. It does hurt, but now we’re just thinking about next game.”
Half Moon Bay (8-2) was in control early, tallying twice in the first quarter -- on a 1-yard run by Tomberlin and a 24-yard Tomberlin to Gutierrez touchdown pass to make it 14-0.
Tomberlin threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions for Half Moon Bay. Gutierrez caught seven passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns and had the kickoff return for another score. Pledger excelled out of the spread for TN, passing for 151 yards.
Both teams now await the results of Sunday’s Central Coast Section playoffs seeding meeting.
November 14, 2015
PACIFICA, CA – Fueled by the emotion of playing for a fallen teammate and refusing to buckle after trailing by 14 points early, Terra Nova stormed back to defeat Half Moon Bay 38-28 on Friday night.
The Senior Night victory in the “Skull Game” rivalry contest also avenged a difficult 49-48 loss to the Cougars last season. Terra Nova has now defeated Half Moon Bay in four of its last seven games against the Cougars, dating back to 2010.
The aroused Tigers were playing for not only themselves, but their starting, 6-foot-1, 315-pound defensive lineman Mace Iaulualo. Iaulualo was in an auto accident more than a week ago and is still in intensive care, said Terra Nova coach and longtime Coastline resident Tim Adams.
“He just went through his third surgery in seven days and some pins have been placed in his left ankle, along with a plate and he’s probably going to be in the hospital until after Thanksgiving,” said Adams, a former Serra High star. “He’s still in ICU with his dad. We’re thankful that he’s alive.”
The Tigers wore “75” stickers on the backs of their helmets – Iaulualo’s jersey number.
“He was a huge inspiration for us today,” Adams said. “We’re very grateful he and his father are both alive because it was very, very close.”
Iaulualo, a junior, is a two-year starter for the Tigers whom Adams calls the “rock of our defensive line” -- a force that had to be replaced by multi players as Terra Nova shuffled offensive linemen to defense to plug the hole.
Trailing 14-0 early in the second quarter, Terra Nova (5-5) finally broke through with 9:45 left on Saini Saini’s 45-yard touchdown run down the right side of the field.
“Practice, practice, practice,” Saini said. “We did this for Mace; it was all for Mace. It’s really hard seeing our brother go down, but we knew what we had to do tonight and we got the job done.”
Terra Nova crept to within 14-10 with 9:43 left in the third quarter on Romario Orellana’s 23-yard field goal. Senior quarterback Joey Pledger connected on 5-of-7 passes for 34 yards on the march.
Midway through the third quarter, Terra Nova’s Brandon Auelua intercepted a pass by Half Moon Bay’s Gavin Tomberlin. Saini put the Tigers in scoring position with a 74-yard run down the right side and Reggie Auelua (brother of Brandon and running back Randall Auelua) scored from the 4 to give Terra Nova a lead (17-14) it never relinquished. Reggie Auelua had three short second-half scoring runs for Terra Nova.
“It started off pretty slow,” Reggie said. “We didn’t really come together as a team and play like we wanted to the first half. It feels really good (to win) for our seniors and for our brother Mace."
Reggie Auelua’s 1-yard TD plunge with 7:41 left in the game increased TN’s lead to 24-14. Things then looked really bad for HMB when star receiver/kick return man Pablo Gutierrez fumbled on the kickoff and TN recovered. But a bad snap out of the shotgun by the Tigers was covered by the Cougars who capitalized on Tomberlin’s 31-yard TD pass to Gutierrez. There was still 4:48 left.
But there was no stopping TN which used a short Half Moon Bay kickoff and a 35-yard run by Pledger to set up Reggie Auelua’s third score, a 1-yard run with 4:32 left. About two minutes later – after an incomplete pass on fourth-and-11 from HMB’s own 14 -- the Tigers cashed in again on Pledger’s 16-yard TD run around the left side to make it 38-21.
But Half Moon Bay refused to quit, as Gutierrez took the ensuing kickoff and weaved 91 yards down the right side to make it 38-28 with 2:19 left, stoking the hopes of HMB's large contingent of fans. But TN recovered the ensuing onside kick to all but win it for the Tigers.
“We didn’t execute well,” Half Moon Bay coach Keith Holden said. “You can’t play a good football team and not execute well and win. We had our opportunities and didn’t take advantage of them and didn’t make plays when we needed to.”
Said Gutierrez: “We just need to play our game. We need to execute better on offense and defense. It does hurt, but now we’re just thinking about next game.”
Half Moon Bay (8-2) was in control early, tallying twice in the first quarter -- on a 1-yard run by Tomberlin and a 24-yard Tomberlin to Gutierrez touchdown pass to make it 14-0.
Tomberlin threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions for Half Moon Bay. Gutierrez caught seven passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns and had the kickoff return for another score. Pledger excelled out of the spread for TN, passing for 151 yards.
Both teams now await the results of Sunday’s Central Coast Section playoffs seeding meeting.
