Gators gobble up win

The Sacred Heart Prep and Mills offenses took turns driving up and down the field Friday afternoon in Millbrae, with defense merely an afterthought.

The two teams combined for 80 points and 952 yards of offense. And while both teams struggled defensively, Sacred Heart Prep came up with the big plays when it needed them.

The Gators turned five Viking turnovers into 35 points and scored three touchdowns in less than three minutes in the fourth quarter, turning a 31-28 deficit into a 49-31 win.

In all, the teams combined for seven turnovers with six of the seven leading to touchdowns.

"It was another PAL team and we wanted to gain respect," said Pat Coffey, Sacred Heart Prep quarterback, who rushed for two touchdowns, passed for two others and returned an interception for a fifth score. "Our offense is pretty tough to stop, but we've got to work on our defense."

The Gators out-gained the Vikings 491-461.

Sacred Heart Prep (2-1) was coming off an emotional 27-19 win over Menlo School last week and Gators' coach Peter Lavorato was concerned the team would come in flat against Mills Friday.

"I was all over them the first two days (of practice)," Lavorato said. "When you come off a big win like that, you have to be on them. The next week counts."

It didn't appear the Gators were flat. They took the opening kickoff and appeared to on their way to a score when Coffey hooked up with tight end Eric Cowell, who rumbled down to the Mills 15-yard line before Shawn Echols punched the ball out from behind and was recovered by the Vikings.

Mills (0-2) promptly marched 90 yards on 12 plays, slicing through the Gators' defense for big chucks of yardage. Echols, who led all ballcarriers with 180 yards on just 15 carries and added five receptions for 72 more, had gains of 17, 19 and 12 yards during the drive that was capped by a 1-yard quarterback sneak from Louis Gardella.

It was the first of 11 touchdowns on the day.

The Vikings' defense held on Sacred Heart's second possession, forcing a punt, but the punt was fumbled back to the Gators. Sacred Heart needed only eight plays to cover 50 yards, with Coffey punching it in from a yard out.

That set the tone for the back-and-forth affair. Mills took a 10-7 lead on a Faisal Attrache 32-yard field goal, but the Gators answered with 61-yard screen pass for a touchdown from Coffey to Matt Connor down the left sideline to take a 14-10 lead with 2:37 left in the first half.

That was plenty of time for Mills, which took the ensuing kickoff and quickly drove the length of the field, hitting pay dirt on a 14-yard run from Lucas Hagberg for a 17-14 lead with 12 seconds left in the half.

"I told the kids after the game, it's not like we can't play the game," said Mills coach Barrett Krieger. "We just did not get it done."

In the second half, Sacred Heart needed only two plays after a Kevin Dos Remedios interception to re-take the lead, 21-17. The big play was a 38-yard pass from Coffey to Connor that took the ball from the Mills 47 to the 9. A five-yard facemask penalty took the ball down to the four and Dillon Chambers capped the brief drive with a 4-yard score.

Mills answered right back, driving 62 yards on just seven plays, capped by an Echols' 14-yard scamper for a 24-21 advantage.

"That [Echols] is unbelievable," Lavorato said.

Sacred Heart needed only a minute and 20 seconds to take the lead back. Coffey capped a five-play drive with his second quarterback sneak for a score on the day.

Mills came right back, needing only five plays to cover 65 yards. Gardella scored his second touchdown of the day with a 2-yard sneak that gave the Vikings their last lead of the day, 31-28.

A Mills fumble deep in Gator territory resulted in another Sacred Heart touchdown. After driving from its own 23 down to the Mills 37, Sacred Heart took the lead for good when Anthony Riesch burst up the middle and went untouched for a 37-yard score.

The Gators recovered a bad snap on the Vikings next play from scrimmage and scored two plays later when Coffey connected with Cowell for a 20-yard score. Coffey sealed the deal for the Gators on Mills' next possession when he snatched a tipped ball out of the air and went 40 yards for a score.

"You have to convert on turnovers if they're going to give them to you," Coffey said.

Despite the loss, Krieger took some positives out of the game, noting that the offense and special teams played well.

"I told the kids after practice (Thursday) that our offense was ready to explode. We still have to work on our passing game," Krieger said.

And the defense?

"Atrocious," Krieger said. "You have 24 points in the third quarter and you're not close to pulling away."