With just five seconds left on the clock, the Templeton High School varsity football team had a chance to snatch a win away from the visiting Taft Wildcats on Friday.

It was easier said than done though. After a fumble on the initial snap, which the Eagles miraculously recovered, the team’s second field goal attempt went off without any of the drama. On that second try, and with the clock reset to reflect three seconds left in the game, Dakota Oropeza sent the ball between the posts, giving his team a narrow 24-21 victory.

“It was unbelievable –– I think it took five years off my life,” Templeton coach Dave Harper said of the play. “He was scared to death, I had to calm him down, and it was just a great kick.”

The Eagles initially took possession of the ball with just a minute left to play and started their drive on the 21-yard line. But two fouls against Taft, one a personal foul and the other an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, resulted in a 30-yard gain for the Eagles and moved the ball to the 44-yard line.

From there, on a third and seven, junior Tyler Gray was able to break away and set the ball up on the 21-yard line.

Gray wasn’t as successful in his next two attempts, and on fourth down the Eagles readied for a field goal. But before the Eagles could get the ball off, another flag flew against Taft for encroachment, giving the Eagles a first down.

So when the first field goal attempt failed, the Eagles got a second chance courtesy of the Wildcats. This time Oropeza’s 27-yard field goal sailed through the uprights.

While the game ended in a three-point victory, the score didn’t start off that way, with the Wildcats in control to end the first quarter. Harper said a blocked extra point attempt following the Wildcats second touchdown served as motivation for his team in the second quarter.

“We got some life after we blocked the kick, and they just kept fighting,” he said.

So the Eagles rallied, and scored twice in the second quarter. They scored their first to start the quarter on a 22-yard run from Gray.

Next, a forced fumble by defensive end Chris Ramos gave the ball right back to the Eagles, and set them up on the 34-yard line. Unable to move the ball on the ground, on third and 10, Eagles’ quarterback Nolan Hildebrand connected with Oropeza on a 40-yard touchdown pass. Oropeza’s extra point was good, and the Eagles took the lead for the first time in the game, 14-13.

Taft coach Steve Sprague said he felt giving up that early lead factored in for the loss for his team, as did a strong defensive stand from the Eagles.

“Bottom line is we blew a 13-point lead,” he said. “I have to give them some credit, we had a 13-point lead, and they came back, and we were up 21-14, and we couldn’t hang on, so we didn’t establish the ground game like I thought we could, and so I give their defense credit. Their defense was very stout, they stayed in their seven-man front all night, and they did a good job.”

The Wildcats took the lead one final time in the game as they ended the first half up 21-14.

In the third quarter, the Eagles held the Wildcats twice, but the Wildcats weren’t able to do the same. On Templeton’s second possession, Gray rushed in from six yards out for an Eagle touchdown. Oropeza’s mark proved true again, and the Eagles tied the game at 21-21.

Corner back Christian Gomez said keeping the Wildcats from scoring was no easy task.

“We started off rocky but our defense started shaping up after the second half, and we talked about in the locker room at half time, and we made some changes to our defense, and it worked,” Gomez said.

Ramos agreed.

“Our defense had everyone’s back, we were all to the ball,” he said.

Hildebrand went 3-for-7 for 54 yards, his longest the 40-yard touchdown pass to Oropeza. Gray rushed 22 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns. On defense, Gray had 15 tackles as well, and blocked the Wildcats’ extra point kick in the first quarter.

“Tyler is an amazing athlete,” Hildebrand said of Gray’s performance. “He’s big, he’s physical, and he’s fast. And that’s a hard [combination] to put together. We gave him the ball and he came through, and what he was doing was setting up the passing game, and some other stuff tonight that was very effective against a team that was big and physical.”

Harper agreed.

“His performance was unbelievable both offensively and defensively,” he said. “A player like him comes around, if you’re lucky, you may get one Tyler Gray in your [coaching] career.”

While Gray’s performance stood out, Harper was quick to add that it was a team effort on the field.

“Our motto is ‘Bend Don’t Break,’ and tonight guys stepped up when we needed them to, the ‘D’ line played great, Hildebrand held his composure, and a couple of other guys stepped up and got some tough yardage,” he said.

Gray said the Wildcats were everything they’d expected them to be, but hard work on the Eagles’ part prevailed.

“We just did what we practiced all week, and we came through in the game when we needed to,” he said. “We expected them to be big and physical, and we did have a chip on our shoulders, everyone doubted us the whole week, so we just practiced hard and came through.”

The Eagles are now 1-0 for the season. They host Pacifica of Oxnard on Friday, Sept. 11 starting at 7:30 p.m.





For the complete article see the 09-08-2009 issue.



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