COURTESY PHOTO/JERRY R. TYSON Tokay High’s Cory Glasgow (22) takes the ball up the middle against Heritage High defenders Friday night at The Grape Bowl.
Posted: Friday, August 26, 2016 11:51 pm
In the early minutes of the third quarter, the Tokay High football team trailed visiting Heritage by two touchdowns in the season opener for both teams at the Grape Bowl on Friday.“We talked about playing with effort and playing with a good attitude,” said Tokay coach Michael Holst of his team’s halftime discussion.
But the Patriots took advantage of special teams play, good field position on a punt and a poor snap in the third quarter to roll past Tokay 42-0.
Tokay (1-0) received the opening kickoff to start the quarter. The ball spotted at their own 22-yard line, the Tigers netted a minus one yard and punted. But the boot was blocked and recovered by Heritage (1-0) defensive back Tyrese Mack, who returned the ball 15 yards for a touchdown and increase the lead to 21-0 at the 10:06 mark.
After another three and out offensive series for the Tigers, who had the ball spot at their own 15, the Patriots took advantage of the short field situation after the Tigers punted again. On the first play on Tokay’s 21-yard line, Heritage quarterback Nick Zell looked for a receiver, but swept to his right and raced 21 yards to make it 29-0 with 8:25 remaining. The Patriots went for the 2-point conversion on a run by placeholder Aidan Quinn.
Third time on offense netted another minus for the Tigers. But this time, a bad snap was recovered by a Heritage player at the Tigers’ 38. Thanks to a facemask call on the Tigers, the Patriots flew in for their final touchdown when Zell found Riley Briggs on an 11-yard TD with 5:57 left, not 42-0.
Tokay moved the ball into Heritage’s territory only once in the second half, at the Patriots’ 47 toward the end of the third quarter. But a fumble led to Heritage’s final score when running back Marquis Washington scored on a 2-yard jaunt for the final touchdown with 1:39 left.
“Nothing worked, that’s for sure,” Holst said. “We were not good up on the offensive line, and that was the difference. We did not take care of the football, either.”
In the first half, Tokay’s offense looked like it was going to score first, thanks to the defense. Tiger middle linebacker Jared Zermeno picked off a Zell pass in the middle, marking the ball at the Patriots’ 15-yard line.
Unable to move the ball, Tokay kicker Joel Luis attempted a 32-yard field goal with 1:31 left in the opening quarter. But holder Ralph Martinez kept the ball on the fake field goal attempt, and threw the ball that found nothing but turf, which led to a turnover.
In the junior varsity game, Tokay held off a late fourth quarter rally for a 20-12 win over Heritage.