Sacred Heart Prep Gators win another wild one

Sacred Heart Prep ran the double-reverse so well, even the coach who called it wasn’t immune to its deception.

The Gators (4-1) earned another in a string of dramatic wins Friday night, when junior receiver Charlie Ford took a clever toss around the right side off a jet sweep from Nathan Fox for a 10-yard touchdown run with 40 seconds to play. SHP went on to a 31-27 victory over Carlmont under the temporary lights at Gator Nation Field.

“It was really fun,” Ford said. “I feel like we just set it up perfectly, everybody did their job and I just ran it in.”

As Ford swooped around the right side, however, even the Carlmont defenders on that side of the field were fixed on SHP’s left flank. It was this reaction by the defense that led Gators head coach Mark Grieb to momentarily question if the pivotal double-reverse exchange had been made.

“‘Did they miss the exchange?’” Grieb said of his real-time reaction. “‘Why is no one seeing our receiver coming around on the play?’”

No. The well-rehearsed play was just run to perfection.

“I think we’ve run a reverse in every single game,” Grieb said. “So, we’ve run a reverse before and Carlmont just bit hook, line and sinker on it.”

It was Ford’s first touchdown at any level of high school football.

Despite SHP not trailing for most of the back-and-forth game, with three ties throughout, the Scots (1-3) waited until the final minutes to take their first lead with a go-ahead drive.

Junior quarterback Brody Zirelli extended the drive on third-and-10 from the Gators’ 40 with an 25-yard spiral over the middle to junior receiver Austin Sotto to pick up the first down. Three plays later, Carlmont again faced third-and-10 when Zirelli rolled left, out of the pocket, and threw across his body to hit senior Lucas Robertson in the back of the end zone in tight coverage to put the Scots ahead 27-24 with 1:29 to play.

“I thought Carlmont, they did a really good job and their quarterback is a really dynamic player, and they have a nice bunch of receivers,” Grieb said. “Yeah, they’re good and they’re very well coached. So, yeah, they’re a really good team.”

Then came a vital decision by the SHP sideline following a dead ball unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Carlmont. Instead of backing up the Scots for the point-after try, Grieb opted to attach the penalty to the ensuing kickoff. The move paid off quickly, as Carlmont missed the extra-point kick, then had to kick off from the 25-yard line, only to get backed up five more yards when the initial kick sailed out of bounds.

The Gators advanced the kickoff to the 49, but a holding penalty on the return backed them up to the 39.

“It really shortened the field, though, so we were able to get a couple quick passes ... and hit a really big play,” Grieb said. “At that point, with two timeouts, we didn’t really feel like we were in a rush.”

With 1:22 to play, SHP nearly threw the comeback opportunity away when senior quarterback Nico Pollioni’s pass to the left sideline was almost intercepted by Carlmont senior cornerback Andrew Dent.

With second life, Pollioni followed with a 5-yard pass to Fox to set up third-and-5, then hit senior Sasha Bamdad with a strike across midfield for first down at the Scots’ 44.

The Gators went without a huddle, and as time ticked under a minute, Pollioni aired it out to Bamdad on a wheel route up the right side. Bamdad got two steps ahead of the defender and hauled in Pollioni’s dime on the run to get dragged out of bounds at the 5.

“At this point in a no-huddle situation ... Sasha runs a wheel and the corner just jumped all over the out,” Grieb said. “So, when he turned it up, he was pretty wide open.”

It is the second clutch reception for Bamdad in as many weeks, after his 48-yard touchdown reception after a short screen pass gave the Gators a 22-19 win Saturday, Sept. 20, over King’s Academy. It charted as just the second touchdown pass of the season for Pollioni, but his 39-yarder to Bamdad against Carlmont may be the prettiest pass he’s thrown in his 14 varsity starts dating back to last season.

“When he has time to throw and there’s separation, he throws a great ball,” Grieb said. “So, I think he did a great job with his eyes and locating his receivers.”

The Gators now have three comeback victories to their credit, including Week 2 when they jumped ahead late in the third quarter for a 35-27 win at El Capitan-Merced.

“I definitely think there’s something special about this group, and they really like to compete, and being in those situations where the game’s on the line,” Grieb said. “This group is not scared of those moments. And sometimes those are tough — those are tough situations to be in. ... Regardless of all the things that have happened, down the stretch, we have played pretty damn well.”