CSM Bulldogs hold off late surge in season opener at Sierra

The Wolverines (0-1) gave the Bulldogs a scare, taking over trailing by 7 with 2:20 remaining only to drive 77 yards, scoring on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Maddox Varella to Dontae Robinson with less than a minute to go. When the Wolverines rolled the dice in attempting to win the game with a two-point conversion, however, CSM’s freshman cornerback Trevon Watson stepped up with a game-saving tackle just short of the goal line.

“I felt happy — more relieved I should say,” Watson said.

Watson’s takedown capped a strong performance by the Bulldog defense. While Sierra outgained CSM 351-335 on the evening, 171 of the Wolverines’ yards came in the final quarter as they rallied back with touchdowns on their last two possessions to make it close.

What loomed large for the Bulldogs was a successful two-point conversion after their final score with 10:15 remaining in the third quarter. After missing a point-after try earlier in the game, CSM made up for it after sophomore running back Lolo Mataele’s 5-yard touchdown run — his third of the game — executing the conversion with a pass from freshman quarterback Conner Annicharico to Hassan Mahasin to take a 27-13 lead.

“Every time we come up and play Sierra up here, it comes down to a point or two,” CSM head coach Tim Tulloch said. “Usually a two-point conversion and an extra point. So, I’m glad we went for the two-point conversion on ours and got it. It put us in the position where they had to go, and then we stopped them and it was the deciding factor in the game.”

The non-conference rivalry took flight in 2017, when the Bulldogs overcame four different Sierra leads — and a big day for Sierra’s then-sophomore receiver Brandon Aiyuk (four catches, 116 yards and two TDs) — to win it 37-36 with a score midway through the fourth quarter.

Two years ago in San Mateo, the Bulldogs were clinging to a 24-21 lead at the end of the third quarter before erupting for three touchdowns in the fourth to win it 45-28. Then last year, Sierra overcame a big deficit with 27 points in the fourth quarter to take the lead with under three minutes to play, only to have CSM respond with an Anthony Grigsby touchdown pass to Jeremiah Patterson with 1:04 to play to win it 37-34.

Saturday’s season opener picked up the rivalry with a contentious first quarter. With game-time temperatures in the mid-90s, and the CSM sideline faced due west with the sun right in their faces, the Bulldog defense started strong but was soon met with a tough test. Ten minutes into the game, dynamic freshman linebacker Malaki Te’o was ejected for a targeting penalty on Sierra’s quarterback Varella.

“He’s a captain, he’s our middle linebacker, he’s our guy that sets the front and gets everyone line up up front, and heart and soul,” Tulloch said. “And when you lose a guy like that, there’s not another guy like that that you step in. So, the other guy’s got to step in and pick up. It’s an opportunity for the next guy to come in and assume that role and assume that responsibility. So, that’s why you have depth. You prepare and you give those guys an opportunity to play.”

With freshman Jeramiah Lewis taking over at inside linebacker, the Bulldogs relied on a four-man rush from their defensive front most of the day. Sophomore defensive end John Gayer proved the equalizer, racking up 10 tackles with four tackles for a loss, including three sacks.

“That’s pretty much our base defense, so we try to get as much pressure as we can with our four-man rush,” Gayer said. “They’re a passing team, so we know we have to have guys in coverage. So, we think we can get there with four, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”

The two teams traded touchdowns before CSM scored the go-ahead TD with a flurry. After Sierra tied it 7-7 early in the second quarter, Mahasin returned a kickoff to the Sierra 46. Mahasin followed with a 39-yard reception, and Mataele found the end zone on the next play with a 7-yard run to make it 13-7.

Mataele finished with 18 carries for 113 yards and three scores, despite sitting the entire third quarter to rest him in the Rocklin heat.

“I was feeling good,” Mataele said. “Me being out kind of took a toll on me because I don’t like being out. I wanted to come back in and prove I could really run the ball.”

The sophomore running back made up for lost time in the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs took a 19-10 lead into halftime, with CSM kicker Dieter Kelly booting field goals of 24 and 18 yards, sandwiched by a Sierra field goal of 24 yards by Cannon Tomlin. In the third quarter, Gayer logged one sack and two hurries to hold Sierra to a 30-yard field goal by Tomlin to send it to the fourth with a 19-13 lead.

“I was really happy with [Gayer],” Tulloch said. “He made some really critical sacks down the stretch, in the middle of the third and the fourth, when we needed them. You always find, when you need a big play, there’s that one guy or two guys that make that critical point. His sacks really gave us a chance to win that game.”

Then Mataele returned to spark five-play, 83-yard scoring drive with a 27-yard carry on his first touch of the second half. Mahasin followed with a 35-yard reception to move into the red zone at the Sierra 5. Mataele scored on the next play to put CSM up 27-13 with 10:15 to go.

“We leaned on him,” Tulloch said. “You know, in a game like this where the temperature is high ... you lean on your o-line, you lean on your backs, and Lolo is ... a captain for us, and he’s a warrior. And you can give it to him 20, 30 times and he’s going to fight for every single yard. And when we need to take some of the air out at the and of the game, he’s the guy.”

That’s when Sierra went on a heater, scoring on its final two possessions, starting with a 12-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a 29-yard touchdown pass from Varella to Robinson to cut it to 27-20 with 6:15 remaining. The Wolverines got a stop to get the ball back with 2:20 to play, and Robinson electrified with a 37-yard touchdown catch — out-jumping CSM cornerback Kimani Stafford in a tight 1-on-1 up the sideline, gathering himself, and dashing to the end zone to score with 53 seconds left on the clock.

“That was a great catch,” Tulloch said. “He’s a playmaker. They’ve got a couple exceptional playmakers on ... the offensive side of the ball, and [Sierra head coach Ben Noonan] does an exceptional job. So, you tip your cap to them. Respect to them.”

Then the kid from Sacramento’s Antelope High School some 15 minutes up the road from Sierra College delivered, as Watson preserved the win on the two-point conversion try with a tackle two yards in front of the goal line.

“I was supposed to stay (in pass protection) if anything came out, and he came out,” Watson said. “And when they threw him the ball, I could have punched it out, but I ain’t going to take no chance. So, I just took my bet on tackling him, and it was a good hit.”

CSM finished with five sacks, with Lewis and freshman linebacker Nate Abbott also getting to Varella, who was 23-of-35 passing for 279 yards and two TDs. Annicharico, in his first collegiate game, spun the ball impressively to go 15-of-32 passing for 216 yards. Mahasin was his most prolific target, enjoying a career day with nine catches for 130 yards. Mahasin added three kickoff returns for 108 yards.