De La Salle’s 18-year streak of not losing to a Northern California opponent lives on.
And the Spartans can thank the powerful legs of Terron Ward for that.
Terron Ward was just two yards short of the magic 400-yard mark.
File photo by Dennis Lee
The 5-foot-8, 195-pound senior running back rushed 28 times for a school record 398 yards and a touchdowns as top-ranked De La Salle held on for a very odd 28-21 victory at second-ranked Monte Vista in Danville Friday night.
It was odd the Spartans, 3-2, only managed four touchdowns considering they piled up 540 yards, including 88 yards rushing on 16 carries by Tyler Anderson, who had TD runs of 7 and 3 yards.
His second TD came with 7:19 left in the third quarter proved to be the game-winner and was the only score of the second half.
The Spartans defense held the highly potent Monte Vista offense scoreless the second half after the Mustangs piled up 240 yards in the first half and got three touchdown passes from UCLA-bound quarterback Brett Nottingham, who completed 20 of 31 for 221 yards.
Twelve of his completions for 152 yards went to Bryce McGovern, who caught a 3-yard TD. The other two scoring tosses went to junior Dane Turner.
But the second half, De La Salle’s physical play began to wear down the Mustangs, who dropped to 4-1 and came in averaging 46.5 points and 519 yards per game.
Will Marre, a 5-10, 207-pound senior, sacked Nottingham twice and the Spartans held the Mustangs to 116 yards in the second half and 356 for the game. Monte Vista’s workhorse running back Greg Johnson finished with 19 carries for 136 yards but no touchdowns.
In the meantime, Ward broke off one long gainer after another but the Spartans kept stalling due to penalties – 14 for 120 yards.
He had runs of 49, 61, 28, 37 and 30 yards – none of those were for touchdowns. His only TD came on a 27-yard burst with 4:55 left in the wild first quarter that gave the Spartans a 14-7 lead.
“It’s a big step of confidence for me,” Ward told San Francisco Chronicle correspondent Harold Abend. “The last four weeks I haven’t played to my potential.”
Monte Vista responded on a pair of Nottingham TD passes, the second to Turner of 12 yards with 1:35 left in the half, to go up 21-14.
But Ward broke off a 49-yard scamper and on the next play sophomore quarterback Bart Houston, making his first start, connected with Lucas Shapiro on a pretty 24-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left in the half, knotting the game at 21-21.
After the go-ahead TD by Anderson in the third quarter, it was all Ward down the stretch.
“You can’t top what Terron did tonight,” De La Salle coach Bob Ladouceur said. “He was fantastic.”
No. 8 St. Francis 27, No. 3 Serra 24
Spencer Rogers kicked a 27-yard field goal with three seconds to play to give St. Francis a thrilling win over Serra in a crucial West Catholic Athletic League game in Mountain View.
Rogers converted despite Serra coach Patrick Walsh burning three straight timeouts in an effort to freeze Rogers.
St. Francis quarterback Kyle Miller was 19 of 23 for 245 yards with three touchdowns.
Miller opened the scoring with a 12-yard pass to Romell Hanks. The Padres, 3-2, 1-1 WCAL, tied the game with 28 seconds left in the first period when Adonis Smith ran around right end from 6 yards out.
Rogers booted a 22-yard field goal to put the Lancers back ahead. Serra connected on a big play with 7:24 left in the third period to take the lead when Andrew McAlindon found DonAndre Clark for a 66-yard score.
Miller threw a fade to Poppy Livers for 13 yards to put the Lancers up 17-14. The Padres ran a trick play to retake the lead. Adonis Smith took a pitch, and then fired downfield 39 yards to Clark, who caught the ball in the back of the end zone.
Miller connected with sophomore Braden Bishop for a 16-yard score with 6:17 to play. The Padres tied the game on a 27-yard field goal by Parker Toms with 3:07 left.
Nathan Morace led all rushers with 158 yards on 31 carries.
St. Francis is 4-1 overall, 2-0 in the WCAL.
No. 7 Mitty 47, No. 14 St. Ignatius 24
Rocky Meszaros rushed for 195 yards and two scores and quarterback Kyle Boehm accounted for 180 yards as Mitty (5-0) continued to show it may just be the best team in the WCAL with an convincing win over St. Ignatius at Foothill College. Mitty piled up 500 yards.
No. 11 Bellarmine 54, No. 13 Valley Christian-SJ 24
Kris Olugbode returned kickoffs 98 and 96 yards for touchdowns and quarterback Mike McGovern added 123 yards rushing and two touchdowns as the Bells (4-1) rolled at San Jose City College. Valley Christian (3-2) got three touchdowns from sophomore Byron Marshall.
No. 21 Amador Valley 13, No. 25 Granada 3
Garrett Worsey intercepted a pass and Dalton Turay scored on a 3-yard run to give the Dons (4-1, 1-1 East Bay Athletic League) the lead for good in the third quarter. Turay tacked on a 38-yard TD run in the fourth quarter and finished with 85 yards and Kean Stancil added 108 yards rushing.
Amador’s defense did a number on Curtis Atkinson III who last week had 200 yards rushing in a win at Foothill, but was held to minus-10 yards rushing on just seven carries. Granada dropped to 3-2 and 1-1.
No. 20 Encinal 38, Piedmont 6
The Jets rushed for 395 yards including 93 yards on six carries each by Jon Trodder and Kimani Washington in a easy Bay Shore Athletic League home win.
San Ramon Valley 34, No. 10 Foothill 26
Michael Summers rushed for 109 yards and recovered a late onside kick to preserve the Wolves’ upset home victory. Junior quarterback Chris Comes threw touchdown passes of 59 and 81 yards and running back Garrett Robinson also fired a TD pass. Oregon State-bound quarterback Sean Mannion completed 27 of 49 passes for 356 yards and two TDs.
Oakland Tech 26, Ygnacio Valley 13
DiAndre Campbell had an interception, returned a fumble for a touchdown and caught a TD pass from Ryan Murphy as host Oakland Tech (4-1) defeated previously unbeaten Ygnacio Valley (4-1).
Other games
San Leandro (3-2) appears ready to break into the Bay Area elite with a 66-20 win over Hayward as senior quarterback Chris Musini threw for 267 yards and five touchdowns, including ones of 24 and 53 yards to Victor Bannerman. George Roberson added 153 yards rushing and three touchdowns. … Victor Johnson rushed for 104 yards on nine carries and a late touchdown as No. 22 James Logan (3-3) rolled to a 44-6 Mission Valley Athletic League win over visiting Newark Memorial. … Rudi Galli had 193 yards and four touchdowns and Shadi Azar added 122 yards and two scores as South San Francisco (4-1) posted a 41-21 win over Menlo (3-2), which got 350 yards passing by Danny Dierkoeger. … Sixth-ranked and host Deer Valley (5-0) showed off its depth and versatility once more, getting four rushing touchdowns from four different players in a 28-7 nonleague win over Vallejo. … Carl Cox put on a one-man show rushing for 180 yards and two touchdowns and completing 18 of 25 passes for 234 yards and three TDs leading Terra Nova to a 49-42 PAL win over Sacred Heart Prep. For good measure, Cox intercepted a pass on Sacred Heart Preps’s final play to preserve the victory. … Richard Calhoun rushed 36 times for 239 yards as Alhambra (5-1) held off Tommy Stephens (321 yards passing) and visiting Campolindo 27-24. … John Warburton threw for 341 yards and four touchdowns to lead Hillsdale to a 56-28 win over El Camino. … Mario Brown scored three touchdowns, including one on a 76-yard kickoff return in Bishop O’Dowd’s 29-14 win over Mt. Eden. … Andy Heimer rushed for four/ touchdowns and kicked seven extra points as No. 9 Los Gatos pummeled Homestead 49-14.
Information from Bay Area News Group and the San Francisco Chronicle contributed to this report.
