Terra Nova rallies past Capuchino

“A little bit of that,” Terra Nova head coach Nick Lotti said. “And we knew they had just gone down and scored on us to end the quarter, and we were like: ‘Let’s figure it out. Let’s get the ball back and do something, and go down and try to score.’”

In fact, led by senior quarterback Joey Donati, Terra Nova scored on each of its first two possessions of the second half. The game-changer was when Donati capped a seven-play, 49-yard drive to start the half with a fourth-down gamble. The senior dropped back on fourth-and-6 to deliver a pearl downfield, a 33-yard scoring pass to senior Holden Najar to put the Tigers ahead 20-16.

“I think that play really set the tone, and like: ‘We’re here to play. We’re here to roll,’” Donati said. “We can compete with these teams. Cap’s a really good team, and I think that play, it was a great play call by our coaching staff and Head Coach Lotti. So, I think that play really set the tone.”

Capuchino (1-2) was bit by the injury bug in the first half, losing two key pieces of its offense. First, junior offensive tackle Jason De La Cruz departed with a leg injury. Not long after, senior running back Carmel Villareal — who had 11 carries for a team-high 72 yards, all in the first half — went hobbling off the field with a game-ending injury.

“We’ve got the injury bug, and that’s what it is,” Capuchino head coach Jay Oca said. “But no excuses. We still had an opportunity to win the game, and we didn’t pull it off.”

Cap’s best chance to win it came on Terra Nova’s final possession of the night.

After Donati’s bomb gave the Tigers the lead, their defense forced a punt, and Terra Nova used a big pass play of 40 yards to Jacob Whitehead, and a 28-yard scoring run by Donati to up the lead to 27-16. But Cap answered right back with a spirited ground attack — sophomore Siosi Kupu (12 carries for 70 yards) ran for 19 yards, junior Owen Chan for 20, and senior Rome Iosia for 10 — before Kupu scored on a 5-yard run. And, with Kupu powering for a two-point conversion run, the Mustangs cut the deficit to 27-24.

Then, with Terra Nova moving the ball to Cap’s 31-yard line, Donati had a pass toward the sideline when Cap’s best chance went into and out of the hands of the sophomore cornerback, who had nothing but green grass between him and the end zone.

“It looked like a pick-6,” Oca said. “It was close to it. But, you know, he’s a sophomore. We’ve got young guys. So, we’ve got to get that experience going.”

Terra Nova went on to run out the clock in a game that saw three lead changes — the first back-and-forth game for the Tigers this season after a lopsided win over Jefferson in Week 1, followed by a blowout loss in Week 2 at Balboa.

“This was the first game we’ve had where it was a fight all the way through,” Lotti said.

Donati finished with 219 total yards. The senior was 8-of-15 passing for 115 yards and one touchdown. He rushed 17 times for 104 yards and another score.

“I love running the ball,” Donati said. “Especially when our O-line is doing what they’re doing, they’re blocking their butts off. They’re playing hard for me.”

Cap’s defense broke an early first-quarter standoff. After the teams traded three-and-outs to start thwe game, Terra Nova faced third-and-5 from its own 16 when Cap junior Jax De Jager picked off Donati’s pass over the middle and returned it 20 yards for the touchdown, staking the Mustangs to a 6-0 lead.

But the Tigers fired right back. Taking over near midfield, Terra Nova stared down another third-down look when Donati connected with senior Jacob Whitehead for a 10-yard completion to move the sticks. On the next play, Donati, as he got leveled by two Cap blitzers, delivered a ball to senior Austin Snead over the middle in stride, and Snead broke an early tackle to truck it up the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown to tie it 6-6.

Cap followed with a stout 12-play drive to set up a 21-yard field goal for Logan Arceo — the first of the sophomore’s varsity career — to swing the Mustangs ahead 9-6, but the possession came at a cost as De La Cruz limped off the field with a leg injury. So, while the running game took a hit, Cap went to the air to close out the half on top.

Terra Nova took the lead back with 4:29 to go in the half, thanks to a Snead interception that placed the Tigers at Cap’s 21-yard line. It took Terra Nova just one play to hit pay dirt, as senior running back Elijah Ramirez took his first carry of the night around the left side and danced through traffic to score it for a 13-9 lead.

That’s when Cap switched it up at quarterback, and Arceo soon cashed in through the air. The Mustangs took over with just over four minutes left in the half, and moved the ball with rushing gains of 6, 5, 4, 3, 5 and 4 yards. Then Arceo hit senior Brody Farrugia on a 7-yard out route to pick up a first down at the Tigers’ 15. On the next play, Arceo hit Farrugia again, this time on a short hook route that saw Farrugia sprint downfield and blast through a defender as he crossed the goal line to give the Mustangs a 16-13 lead at the half.

But Terra Nova’s recovered onside kick to start the second half switched up the momentum big time.

“It meant a lot,” Lotti said. “This team needed to figure out how to win, and I think tonight they learned how.”