Capuchino football holds off Jefferson

The Mustangs (2-0 PAL Ocean Division, 4-2 overall) relied on two workhorse running backs in Isaac Nishimoto and Rainier Ibay, who each rushed for over 100 yards.

But after Nishimoto departed early in the second half, the Grizzlies roared back from a 35-12 deficit to make a game of it. Only a career game from Ibay — who carried 17 times for 108 yards and a critical fourth-quarter touchdown — kept the Mustangs in the driver’s seat.

“He’s a good running back, he’s a shifty running back, he’s explosive,” Capuchino head coach Jay Oca said. “He’s got some speed and he can read holes, so he needs to be out there making some moves and contributing to the team.”

But Jeff (0-2, 2-3) countered with a two-way wrecking ball in senior Dylan Camp. Not only did he shine on offense — 199 total yards by nabbing five catches for 90 yards and three touchdowns, and adding four rushes for 109 yards and another score — he asserted himself with the play of the game on defense, a stone-cold strip takeaway on a big gainer by Ibay to record a fumble recovery as Cap clinged to a 41-31 lead with under nine minutes to go in regulation.

“Dylan is one of those players … that, when I say he has a nose for the ball, it’s not just with fumbles, it’s not just with punching balls loose and intercepting, he’ll strip the ball right out of the man’s hands,” Jefferson head coach Sergio Portela Jr. said. “When I say he literally has a nose for the ball, he literally has it.”

The takeaway came just after Camp had turned in the play of the game on offense on the previous play from scrimmage.

With the Grizzlies facing second-and-16 from the Cap 44, quarterback Tyler Taylor chucked a jump-ball up the right sideline that was severely underthrown. Camp was in double-coverage but came back for the ball to haul in the pass flat-footed, then weaved his way through both defenders, darted up the sideline to get to the end zone.

“It may not have been the best play call, even though it may not have been the best ball, we knew we probably had the best player on the field and probably had one of the best players in our league on our side,” Portela said. “And he made a play.”

Camp — after having rushes of 13, 44 and 49 yards earlier in the night — went on to add a 3-yard touchdown run with 5:35 to go to make it 41-38. But it would not be enough as Cap would run out the clock with stingy ball management on the following possession.

Nishimoto was the rushing leader of Friday’s game. He carries 15 times for 135 yards and four touchdowns and paced the Mustangs’ offense in the first half as they scored on all four of their possessions in the half.

“It’s Isaac continuing what we did in the spring season,” Oca said. “He’s just kind of doing what he does, just a little bit better. He’s an explosive back and he can score any moment in time, any part of the field, and that’s kind of what it was.”

It didn’t take Nishimoto long to get his legs going. His first touch was a third-and-5 from the Jefferson 21, and the senior tailback bounced off the right side and outran the defense for a 21-yard scoring run.

“He’s the one that sets the tone to the game,” Ibay said. “We expect that from him. That’s what he produces and that’s what he gives us every game.”

Cap forced a punt and got the ball back at its own 11 and proceeded to go on a 13-play, 89-yard scoring drive. Nishimoto ate up consistent yards with ground gains of 7, 5, 2, 15, 2, 5 and 5 on the drive. But the big pickup came on fourth-and-4 from the Jefferson 45 when quarterback Elijah Lazo-Bustos found Emile Koury in the flat for a 17-yard gain and first down. Four plays later, Nishimoto pounded up the gut for a 1-yard score to give the Mustangs a 14-0 lead.

Jefferson fired back with Taylor taking the reins. His 11-yard pass to Hector Alipio on fourth-and-3 near midfield sustained the drive. Taylor later hit Nathan Sanz with a 21-yard pass to the Cap 19 before taking it in himself, scoring on a 19-yard wildcat look right up the middle to cut into the Mustangs’ lead 14-6.

Cap turned it right back around, marching down a short field for a seven-play, 44-yard drive. Nishimoto had rushes of 5, 9 and 13 yards before scoring on a 1-yrd dive to make it 21-6. After Jefferson fired back with a 33-yard scoring pass from Taylor to Camp, the Mustangs closed out the half with a fever-pitch drive, taking over at their own 43 with 1:31 to go in the half and scoring less than a minute later on a 14-yard scoring pass from Lazo-Bustos to Nico Caruso.

But when Nishimoto’s leg cramped up in the second half though, it was the glimmer the Grizzlies needed to get back on track.

“I’m pretty sure it was,” Oca said. “I’m pretty sure they keyed on that.”

The Grizzlies simply ran out of time, but a key officiating call that went against them at the start of the fourth quarter cut into the clock big time.

After Taylor scored on a 3-yard keeper to cut the deficit to 35-25 late in the third quarter, the Jefferson defense was looking for a stop. But after a gritty 2-yard pickup by Ibay on fourth-and-1 to move the sticks, Cap aired it out for a 25-yard pass to Caruso to advance inside the red zone.

On the play, however, Caruso stepped out of bounds just before he caught the ball. But an array of miscues caused the call to get missed, as Jefferson’s coaches had shielded the sideline referee from seeing the catch. The coaches were flagged for being too close to the field, and the referee explained to them as they argued the call that he couldn’t call what he couldn’t see.

Portela said the reason the coaches had moved too close to the field was because they were complaining a false start wasn’t called on Capuchino, especially after the volume of similar penalties called on the Grizzlies earlier in the game.

“It’s very difficult when you see two or three false starts called back on your side because our slots false started,” “But now that their receiver jumps, and they end up having a splash play, it doesn’t get called, it’s hard.”