September 2009
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09/21/2009
Pacers Defeat Bellevue 14 - 0!
From ESPN RISE
September 20, 2009 4:22 AM
Pacers
come up big, especially on defense, in 14-0 win over Bellevue on
Saturday at Seattle Memorial Stadium in showdown of nationally-ranked
teams. Their win completes strong 3-1 showing on the weekend for
Golden State squads against Washington schools.
By Mark Tennis, Executive Editor
Grant of Sacramento head coach Mike Alberghini was
certainly worried how his young defense would fare against Bellevue of
Washington in Saturday night's matchup of nationally ranked teams at
Seattle Memorial Stadium.
After the Pacers not only defeated
but shut out the Wolverines, 14-0, the biggest worries about Grant's
defense not just this year but for next year as well is going to be for
opposing offenses.
Bellevue, which scored 62 points in its
first game, only seriously threatened the young but supremely-talented
Grant defense on its opening drive. The Wolverines pushed the ball
downfield for 13 plays, but had to settle for a field goal attempt that
was unsuccessful.
"Those first few plays we hadn't played
against a Wing-T team in awhile and we made some mistakes,” Alberghini
said. "The thing I like best about this team is that they play hard
every week.”
The good news for Bellevue was that its own
defense was shutting down Grant. The Pacers only drove as far as the
Wolverines' 39-yard line in the first half, which meant the teams
headed into the halftime break tied at 0-0.
On Grant's second possession of the third quarter, the Pacers used the running of senior Devontae Butler (29 carries, 134 yards) plus a 21-yard pass from senior quarterback Glenn Deary to senior wide receiver Dezmon Epps to get them into scoring position. On a second-and-goal play from the Bellevue 7-yard line, Epps finally broke the scoring draught by taking an end-around for a 7-yard touchdown.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Pacers set themselves up for their second touchdown by holding the Wolverines inside their 10-yard line. The resulting punt put the ball at the Bellevue 40-yard line. A 27-yard pass from Deary to Epps plus a fourth-down pass interference penalty helped Grant get inside Bellevue's 10-yard line. The Pacers scored on a one-yard plunge by Butler.
One of only two first downs that Bellevue could get in the second half came on a 40-yard bomb from Kenderick Van Ackeren to Braydon Van Ackeren with less than two minutes left. That scoring chance was stopped, however, when Kenderick Van Ackeren was dropped for a loss on a fourth-down play by Grant's 6-3, 325-pound Viliami Moala.
Just like in the 2008 CIF Open Division state bowl game last December when Moala was a dominating presence in Grant's win over Long Beach Poly, Bellevue was unable to deal with him, either. In addition to Moala, Grant's young defense included 6-2, 175-pound hard-hitting junior safety James Samples, 6-2, 240-pound junior linebacker Darryl Paulo and 6-2, 175-pound sophomore corner Shaq Thompson.
"Yeah, of course we thought we could shut them out,” Samples said. "The difference was our good coaching on defense.”
Grant shut out its third straight opponent, only this time it was a nationally-ranked one and Bellevue was only able to rush for 160 yards. The Wolverines were led by senior Sean Coley with 13 carries for 82 yards. They did go into the game without top wingback David Nguyen and top fullback Will Fields.
Grant's win came one night after Oaks Christian of Westlake Village won in a showdown of top 10 nationally-ranked teams, 28-25, over Skyline (Samammish, Wash.).
The Pacers (3-0) were No. 30 in last week's FAB 50 national rankings (No. 3 overall in the state) and should make a strong move upward nationally in the next few weeks, especially since they are expected to roll over their upcoming opponents. Bellevue fell to 1-2 and lost for the second straight week to a state champion. The Wolverines, who were No. 48 in the FAB 50, dropped a 35-17 contest at Katy (Texas) last week.
The loss for Bellevue also was its first to a California foe with earlier victories over De La Salle of Concord, Long Beach Poly and California of San Ramon.
"They've had great success against some great teams from our state, but we like being the first to accomplish something like beating them,” Alberghini said. "This is the third year in a row we've played a state champion and I like that we're willing to take these challenges.”
With the famous Space Needle looming overhead, the Pacers and their players trudged toward their locker room. Some of them were perhaps too tired to look ahead, but after seeing both Oaks Christian and Grant in action it wouldn't be a surprise to perhaps see the two teams go against each other in this December's CIF Open Division state bowl game.
09/14/2009
09/13/2009
09/08/2009
09/05/2009
Grant Pacers Hammer the Montgomery Vikings 42-0 (Sept. 4, 2009)
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