From the archives: M-A holds off Aragon

Menlo-Atherton running back/defensive back Vaughn Smith rushed for 244 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries, but it was his interception with just more than four minutes to play that preserved M-A’s wild 38-35 win over Aragon Friday afternoon in San Mateo.

The defense for Aragon (2-1 Bay Division, 3-4 overall) had just made its second consecutive stop of the Bears (2-0, 5-2), forcing a punt. On second down from his own 36, Aragon quarterback Sam Tuivailala lofted a high, arcing pass down the right sideline. Receiver Josh Fale had a step on Smith, who was defending him. Fale made the catch but suddenly the ball popped out of his grasp and into the air. Smith closed on Fale and ripped the ball from his hands for the interception.

“It bounced off his hands and I caught it,” Vaughn said. “He kind of bobbled it.”

The M-A offense took over at its own 21, picked up three first downs and ran out the clock to preserve the win.

It was the Bears’ impressive second and third quarters that gave them some breathing room as they out-scored the Dons 28-14 during those quarters. Finishing the game, however, was another story as Aragon out-scored M-A 14-0 in the fourth quarter.

“We needed to play a good second half,” said M-A coach Phillip Brown. “As you can see, by the hair of our young chinny chin chins, we got it done.”

Amazing that a team can rack up 500 yards of offense on the ground, with three running backs eclipsing the 100-yard mark, and still have to sweat out the win.

“Aragon-M-A is always a battle,” Brown said. “The PAL Bay is a tremendous league.”

Aragon coach Steve Sell was just glad to see his team play to the end. The Dons trailed 24-13 at halftime and after M-A scored on its first possession of the third quarter, the Bears held a 17-point lead, 31-13.

The Dons, to their credit did not quit. They out-scored the Bears 21-7 the rest of the way, yet still came up short.

“They just kept fighting and fighting,” Sell said. “If you give up 500 yards of rushing, it’s pretty hard to win a football game. The fact we were in it ... was damn near a miracle.”

Sell’s right. The way the Bears’ rushing attack gashed the Dons’ defense all game long, Aragon had no business being in the game. Besides Vaughn’s 244 yards, Will Preston rushed for 164 yards and two scores on 14 carries while Rod Nash chipped in with 105 yards on 11 carries. That’s an average of nearly 14 yards per carry.

“We have a three-headed monster,” Brown said. “It’s hard to fathom throwing a pass.”

The Bears did throw the ball a handful of times. Quarterback Turner Baty was only 2 of 7 passing, but he made the most of his completions -- a 34-yard scoring strike to Sam Knapp and a 31-yard completion to Nash that set up a touchdown just before halftime.

It became evident early on, however, that Baty was going to spend a lot of time handing the ball off. In fact, his trio of backs might have given up the ball as much as Baty did as the Bears used double inside handoffs to ruthless efficiency. It seemed whenever an M-A back handed off to another, it resulted in a big play.

The Bears also used traditional running plays for big results as well. With Aragon leading 6-3 midway through the second quarter, Smith took a pitch down the line, got the corner and then glided by the Aragon defense down the right sideline for a 88-yard score to put the Bears up 10-6.

Aragon answered right back when Fale caught a simple 5-yard go and turned it into a one-play, 79-yard scoring drive to put the Dons back up 13-10.

It would be their last lead of the game. On their ensuing drive, M-A went 80 yards on just five plays. Smith started the drive with a 38-yard run and the drive ended when Sam Knapp made a tough, over-the-shoulder catch for a 34-yard score from Baty to put M-A ahead 17-13 with 4:46 left in the first half. After forcing an Aragon punt, the Bears scored one more time just before halftime when Preston capped a six-play drive with a 24-yard scoring scamper.

Preston scored again on M-A first possession of the second half when he went 41 yards for a score and a 31-13 lead.

“I don’t think our defense needed pumping up,” Sell said. “They needed to be speeded up.”

The two teams traded scores on their next possessions — Alex Sortwell scored on a 5-yard run before Smith answered with his second 80-plus yard touchdown run of the game when he broke off an 81 yarder for 38-21 lead with 5:05 left in the third quarter.

In the fourth, it was all Aragon. The Dons closed to 38-28 when Sortwell, who finished with 141 yards of total offense (113 receiving, 28 rushing), caught a short screen pass, picked up a block from Fale and pinballed his way to a 35-yard score. The Dons closed to 38-35 after forcing an M-A punt and Sifa Tonga found pay dirt five plays later from 4 yards out. The score was set up by a 36-yard completion to Sortwell.

Smith’s interception, however, all but sealed the game for the Bears.

“Those guys are fast,” Sell said. “That’s a track team. The difference was when they got a small seam, it was for 80 yards. When we got a small seam, it was for 8 yards.”