Mills holds off Sequoia

"That gave our team a boost," said Mills coach Barrett Krieger.

The touchdown put a miserable first half behind Mills (2-3 Ocean Division, 3-4 overall). In the first 24 minutes, the Vikings managed only 32 yards of offense and didn't pick up their initial first down until there was only 6:32 left in the half. All nine of the Vikings' first-half points came on defense in the second quarter - Ivan Hildalgo blocked a punt and returned it 30 yards for a score and a safety that was the result of heavy pressure on Sequoia quarterback Wade Reynoso, who was called for intentional grounding in the end zone.

"We just played harder (in the second half)," Del Bianco said. "(In the first half) we were playing like girls."

The loss spoiled a spectacular effort from Sequoia running back Sam Alipate who rushed for a season-high 207 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries, bulling his way through and running over tacklers. He rushed for 94 yards in the first half before steamrolling the Mills defense for 113 in the second.

"The offensive line gave him a few holes here and there," said Sequoia coach Fine Lauese. "There's no side-to-side stuff (in his running)."

Despite Del Bianco's run to start the second half, Sequoia (0-5, 1-6) kept Mills in check for most of the half. Trailing 16-9, the Cherokees embarked on a drive that took over six minutes off the clock and tied the score at 16. Alipate carried the ball nine times on the 11-play scoring drive that was aided by a roughing the passer call on fourth down. Alipate's 2-yard scoring run tied the game with just under six minutes remaining.

That's when Sequoia's lack of bodies came into play. With only 19 players, most of the starters play on both offense and defense. Mills, which could not sustain a drive all day, finally found some rhythm. Starting from its own 29, the Vikings methodically drove down the field against a weary Sequoia defense. Mills drove 71 yards on 10 plays, capping the game-winning drive when quarterback Andrew Fanaika snuck into the end zone from three yards out with 1:37 left to play.

"You could see [the lack of depth] there," Lauese said. "[The Sequoia defense] was just dead tired. Mills came out and did what they had to do to win the game."

Early on, it was the Cherokees that did what they had to do to take the early advantage. Sequoia recovered a fumble at the Mills 25 and needed three plays to find paydirt. Alipate went into the end zone from four yards out to give his team a 7-0 lead.

On Mills' next possession, Ryan McGovern was tackled in the end zone by a host of Cherokees for a safety and suddenly Sequoia owned a 9-0 lead with 2:50 left in the first half.

"I give a lot of credit [to Sequoia]," Krieger said. "They were ready to play."

But as has been the case all year, Cherokees mistakes let the Vikings back in the game. Mills intercepted a pass to kill a Sequoia drive at the Vikings' 3. Later, a high snap on a punt gave Hildalgo just enough time to block it, pick it up and rumble into the end zone to cut the Sequoia advantage to 9-7. Mills picked up a safety on the Cherokees' next possession and just like that, the score was tied at 9.

Sequoia saw its last possession of the first half end with a fumble at the Vikings' 21 and a 10-play, third-quarter drive end with a missed 52-yard field attempt.

"We did really well except for a few mistakes," Lauese said. "We'd put together great drives and then start moving backward."