Late Sinclair touchdown leads Wolves to upset

DANVILLE >> San Ramon Valley ended any chance Monte Vista had of gaining the top seed in Division I of the North Coast Section playoffs when Tristan Sinclair scored from 13 yards out with under 30 seconds to play, leading the Wolves past the host Mustangs 17-10 Friday night.

But a violent collision on a running play earlier in the drive sent a player from each team to the hospital, casting a pall over what was a heated battle between the rivals.

Monte Vista safety Nate Rutchena and San Ramon Valley running back Jacob Himan remained on the turf until being loaded into ambulances and taken to the hospital. The injuries occurred after a crushing tackle on a four-yard run by Himan with 2:02 left to play.

Rutchena, a 6-foot-3, 195-pound junior, was released from the hospital around 3:30 a.m. and is “doing well,” Monte Vista coach Matt Russi said in a text Saturday morning.

Himan, a junior running back/ safety, is out of the hospital and has complete mobility, San Ramon Valley coach Aaron Becker said in a text message Saturday.

“It was precautionary to have him taken to the hospital in an ambulance,” Becker said. “There was movement.”

The teams were tied 10-10 when the injury occurred with 2:02 left to play in the East Bay Athletic League Mountain Division contest. Himan gained four yards on what was the fifth play of the 81-yard, 10-play march.

When play resumed with San Ramon Valley at its own 44, the Wolves (6-4, 2-2) used four runs by Sinclair and a 29-yard pass from Brandon Cammisa to Chris Pedrini to find paydirt. The pass put the ball on the Monte Vista 20, and Sinclair did the rest.

“This game means so much,” said Sinclair, the four-star recruits who is committed to Stanford as an outside linebacker. “This is the biggest game of the year for us.”

Sinclair had a big game, running for 114 yards and scoring San Ramon Valley’s other touchdown on a 10-yard reception from Cammisa with 27 seconds to play in the first half. That gave SRV a 10-0 lead.

Monte Vista (7-3, 2-2), ranked 11th in the Bay Area News Group’s top 25, scored its only touchdown less than three minutes into the third quarter on a 90-yard punt return by Jacob Oliphant. A 26-yard field goal by Micah Hertz early in the fourth period tied it up.

But Monte Vista only got the ball back one more time, and had to punt it away from its own 48.

The Wolves marched down field, never losing focus, even after the scary injuries to Himan and Rutchena.