Garces (Bakersfield) 37, Cypress 20Philip Anspach threw for 243 yards and two touchdown and
Nick Vehlewald ran for 73 and two more scores as Garces hung very tough to get a big win for the Central Section in the opening game of the Mission Viejo Football Classic.
No one around the program quite knew if this was Garces' first win over a Southern Section school – certainly the first in recent memory – but either way it was a big, emotional win four hours away from home.
In fact, Garces coach John Roberts was attributing the win to the team's "country style," which stands for playing hard to the finish.
The Rams needed to because Cypress, after spotting Garces a 16-0 first-quarter lead, kept fighting back, especially in the fourth quarter.
Each time, Garces responded, especially in an entertaining final quarter that featured 35 points.
"That was a whole lot of fun," Roberts said. "The kids played a great game and it's a huge win against a big-time school."
Cypress closed to within three points twice in the fourth quarter, the last time 23-20 following a 2-yard run by
Vincent Rivera with 5:15 left. But on third down, Anspach (9 of 13) hit
Angus Bellue (3 catches, 113 yards) on a 77-yard cross-route to set up a 2-yard TD run by Vehlewald.
That made it 30-20.
Then after an interception, Vehlewald sprinted around left end and swan dived into the end zone with 2:35 remaining to put the finishing touches on this one.
Anspach, a 6-3, 185-pound senior who played as a sophomore but little as a junior, was particularly impressive. He threw TD passes of 13 yards to Bellue and 29 yards to
Chris Aguliar in the first quarter keying a 16-point spurt.
"Anspach had a great game and made some big plays," Roberts said. "We knew he would. He's been waiting for this game a long time."
Cypress closed to 16-6 just before half on a 4-yard pass from
Joe Anderson to
Joe Hoffie. Following a scoreless third quarter, the game picked up considerably as Anderson found
Jake Brito with a 54-yard scoring strike, making it 16-13.
Patrick Hellman answered immediately for Garces with a 43-yard TD run, but Cypress countered with a quick long drive itself, capped by Rivera's short touchdown burst.
In the end, Garces, ranked 14th in the Central Section, just had too much firepower.
And country style.
