The Amador Valley Dons take on Granada High on the Livermore field tonight, fresh from a 35-7 win over Antioch last Friday.
Amador, with a 5-1 record, hopes for a repeat of its stunning performance over the Antioch Panthers as it battles Granada (1-5), which lost to Foothill last week 24-7.
Even though considered the superior team, the Dons found during the first half of their game against Antioch just how tough the Panthers’ offensive line could be. The Panthers controlled the ball almost the entire first half. Including two punts, the Dons ran a total of 12 offensive plays in the half.
Fortunately, the Amador Valley defense was up to the task, stopping the Panthers on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line on their first possession, and picking off an Antioch pass to halt another drive. A blitzing Nick Vuoto hit the Panthers’ quarterback just as he was about to release the ball, and Mike Aronoff returned the ball to the Antioch 5-yard line after a nice one-handed interception.
Antioch struck first in the game, scoring their only touchdown of the contest at the 2:15 mark of the first quarter on a dive of less than a yard. After the ensuing kickoff, the opportunistic Dons’ offensive struck back quickly, as Pat Gondkoff took the first-down handoff and swept around the right side, cutting back towards the middle after setting up his downfield blocking, then outracing the Panthers’ defense to the end zone for a 65-yard touchdown. The Dillon Mullaney extra-point tied the game at seven 20 seconds after the Panthers had taken the lead.
The Dons’ other first-half touchdown followed the Aronoff interception. On third-and-goal from the one-yard line, J.R. Souza bulled through the left half of the Antioch defense to find the end zone. The Dons found themselves in the lead 14-7 in the half.
The second half reminded fans of the previous week’s game against Livermore, as the Dons added another touchdown 15 seconds into the half. Kean Stancil received the second-half kickoff at the five-yard line, found a hole in the middle of the pack, and cut to the right sideline before outracing all Panthers’ defenders to the end zone. The Dons now had a more comfortable 21-7 lead following the extra-point. Then Brent Starkey came up big again, intercepting a pass around the 10-yard line before returning it to the 40-yard line.
Floyd Jackson was the featured back on the Dons’ final scoring drive, carrying the ball four times, sealing the win for the Dons with a touchdown run of 14 yards. Mullaney’s extra-point gave the Dons a 35-7 lead with 1:41 remaining in the game.
The final drive of the game began deep in Antioch territory, as the knuckleball kick was fielded at the four-yard line and the Panthers’ returner was immediately crushed by Kyle Perry of the Dons. Antioch was able to pick up two first downs and reach the 46-yard line, but time ran out and the Dons had their fifth win of the year.
–Bob Gatehouse
