Jefferson football team impresses in opener with win over San Mateo

Three weeks later, they kicked off their season with an entertaining 31-27 win over host San Mateo Friday night.

“We have 19 guys and two girls (on our roster),” said Jefferson head coach Sergio Portela Jr. “You have certain games you’ll remember for the rest of your life and this is one of them.

“I’m speechless.”

Despite a lack of numbers and preparation time, Jefferson relied on its playmakers and the moxie of a quarterback making his first varsity start under center to get past San Mateo, which dropped its third game in a row.

Nicholas Sunga is listed as an outside linebacker on the Jefferson roster. Some may say that is the quarterback of the defense. Maybe it’s the experience he’s gained on defense that enabled him to direct the offense to near perfection. He helped guide the Grizzlies to 382 yards of offense, throwing for 188 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 39 yards on seven carries.

“He played the game plan we put together. He made the right decisions. He didn’t take big risks,” Portela Jr. said. “More than anything, he just led us out there.”

Sunga completed 7 of 9 passes, none more than a couple yards past the line of scrimmage. But the guys catching the ball — Dylan Camp and Romien Taguiam — certainly padded Sunga’s passing stats with a number of big runs after the catch.

Down 6-0, Taguiam scored Jefferson’s first touchdown of the game when he took a simple swing pass from Sunga, got the corner and bolted 72 yards for the score.

Then Camp, who finished with four catches for 107 yards, took over. Like their first score, Sunga flipped a short pass to Camp, who juked the first wave of San Mateo defenders and went down the right sideline for a 48-yard score and a 17-13 halftime lead. Camp later added another 48-yard gain by out-jumping the San Mateo defender.

Taguiam was a force on the ground for the Grizzlies, as he rushed for a game-high 111 yards on 17 carries.

“I’m just realizing everyone is bigger, faster and stronger than us,” said San Mateo head coach Jeff Scheller, who said he has lost a number of key starters to injury already this season.

“But that’s part of the game,” Scheller said.

The Bearcats took another hit when starting quarterback Dane Anderson suffered a broken collarbone on the first drive of the game, forcing backup quarterback Torryn Tulloch into the game for his first-ever varsity action. While he struggled a bit in the Bearcats’ option offense, he did provide one of the game’s highlights when he kept the ball on an option read and weaved his way 47 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“He was very nervous and he wasn’t making his reads,” Scheller said of Tulloch. “But when he relaxed, it got better. … We feel comfortable with him under center.”

Overall, the Bearcats struggled on offense, putting up 220 yards. Lucas Castillo provided most of the work as he rushed for 99 yards on 15 carries and scored a 26-yard touchdown for the first score of the game.

Castillo also completed one of the Bearcats’ two passes as he took a pitch before pulling up and hitting a wide open Noah Rodriguez for a 26-yard touchdown to put the Bearcats up 13-10 in the second quarter.

Jefferson, however, did a good job of neutralizing Castillo in the second half as 85 of his rushing yards came in the first two quarters.

The teams traded touchdowns on their opening possessions — with Castillo going 26 yards for San Mateo’s 6-0 lead and Taguiam answering with his 72-yard catch-and-run to give the Grizzlies a 7-6 lead after one quarter.

Jefferson’s Nicholas Ramirez added a 31-yard field goal for a 10-6 lead midway through the second quarter, but the Bearcats responded with Castillo’s touchdown toss to Rodriguez for a 13-10 San Mateo advantage.

Jefferson came right back with a six-play drive that culminated with Camp’s 48-yard catch-and-run score for a 17-13 lead at halftime.

Jefferson extended its lead to 24-13 with just under two minutes left in the third when Taguiam waltzed into the end zone from 4 yards. When he scored on another 4-yard run in the fourth, Jefferson was up 31-13 with 7:38 to play.

Things got a little dicey for the Grizzlies from there, however. Tulloch broke off his 47-yard scoring run to cut the lead to 31-19. On Jefferson’s ensuing possession, it faced fourth-and-long from its own 20. Instead of punting, Sunga took the snap and ran into the end zone and took a knee for a 2-point safety.

With 1:56 left, Jefferson had a 10-point lead. Ten seconds later, the Grizzlies had a four-point lead. On the ensuing free kick from its own 20-yard line, the Grizzlies decided to kick the ball to a San Mateo return man for the only time in the game. Marco Martin fielded the ball at his own 40 and worked his way down the field for a 60-yard touchdown and just like that, the Bearcats were within striking distance.

But the Grizzlies iced the game with a first down on their next possession.

“I can’t put into words how proud I am of this team,” Portela Jr. said. “Credit my nine coaches. Credit the 21 guys and girls who suited up.”