Sonora holds off Calaveras in final game,
Sonora holds off Calaveras comeback to close out shortened season
The 2020-2021 football season, staged in spring, restricted, and shortened due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, produced a dramatic ending Friday night when the Sonora Wildcats jumped to a big lead over Mother Lode League rival Calaveras High School, before Calaveras fought back with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to make the final minutes matter.
The Sonora High School varsity football team held on to win 27-21 at Dunlavy Field in its first and only home game of the season. Wildcat head coach Bryan Craig said 22 players suited up for Sonora, while Calaveras coach Doug Clark said his team suited up 23.
Asked before the game what he told his players and how he tried to motivate them, Craig said, “It’s the last game, the game itself is what matters. Everybody wants to play. It’s not about winning. It’s about playing together, competing together, and making memories.”
All varsity football players for Calaveras wore the number 33 on their helmets Friday night to pay tribute to senior linebacker and tight end Blain Mossa, the team’s official captain, who was seriously injured in a boating accident in August and was unable to play this year.
Sonora led 17-7 at halftime, on touchdowns by Wildcat seniors Gabe Milbourn and Andrew Matlock. Calaveras senior Phoenix Nguyen returned a second-quarter kickoff 85 yards to make it 10-7 before Matlock’s score.
Wildcat junior left offensive tackle Erin Greenway recovered a Sonora fumble deep in Calaveras territory to score and make it 24-7 in the third quarter. Wildcat sophomore Tim Blackmore intercepted a Calaveras pass near midfield later in the third and converted his second successful field goal early in the fourth quarter to make it 27-7 for Sonora.
Blackmore also converted three point-afters throughout the game.
Calaveras refused to give up, however. Calaveras senior receiver Jake Black caught a pass and ran half the field to score with 9 min
utes 19 seconds left in the game, cutting Sonora's lead to 27-14.
Calaveras junior linebacker K.J. Jesus Gonzales recovered a fumble near midfield with about two minutes left in the game.
“That's the way to finish, baby!” family members and supporters of Gonzales shouted. “That's the way to finish!”
Calaveras back Braeden Orlandi caught a pass from junior quarterback Travis Byrd and ran more than 40 yards to score, and the point-after was good, making it 27-21 with a minute and six seconds left.
Milbourn recovered an onside kick by Calaveras, allowing Sonora to take two knees and run out the clock as the spring football season necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic came to a close.
Some Calaveras players were in tears at the end of the game.
“I did it for the seniors,” Gonzales said. Moments later, he was hugging Black.
Black and other seniors were dealing with the agony of a closefought battle that came down to the final plays of their final football game playing for their high school.
“Too many penalties,” Black said. “We ran out of time.”
Nguyen, another senior, confirmed he returned a first-half kickoff for a touchdown. He was otherwise speechless at the end of the game.
Sonora finished undefeated at 3-0 with two Mother Lode League wins, over Summerville and Calaveras. Calaveras finished 2-2, with a league loss to Amador, two straight wins over Summerville and Argonaut, and the loss to Sonora.
Sonora players were jubilant to finish their three-game season unbeaten.
Greenway said this past autumn and this spring have combined to make a weird year and a weird football season but “at least we got to play a few games.”
Wildcats junior quarterback Bradley Curnow said he and other teammates are already excited about next year because so many talented juniors and sophomores will come back in the fall to pick up where Sonora is leaving off this spring.
“We have a great group to build around,” Curnow said.
Sonora senior corner Colby Bouchard said he and his teammates “really came together at the end.”
Sonora sophomore corner Jack Teem said it was important that the Wildcats took care of business early in the game and late in the game, to “leave no doubt, leave everything on the field.”
Sonora junior running back and safety Clay Wooldridge said it has been a strange academic year and a strange football season, but Sonora took their chances to “really put it together.”
“I'm very happy the way we played as a team,” Sonora junior running back and safety Kade Clifton said. “This is a starting point for us to do well next fall.”