The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Gutierrez's three TDS lead Spartans
UPLAND >> The Damien football team played nothing like the tumultuous week the Spartans endured.
Ayden Gutierrez scored three touchdowns and Damien pulled away in the second half to down Upland 27-18 in a Baseline League opener Friday night at Upland High School.
The game was first for Damien following head coach Matt Bechtel being placed on leave. The leave was pending the result of an investigation following accusations by a Bishop Amat player that he was assaulted by a Damien coach after the teams’ game Sept. 23. Damien was also without three other coaches.
“The boys were inspired, they wanted to make coach Bechtel proud,” Damien interim coach/defensive coordinator James Stewart said. “We have a culture here that he’s instilled that’s based on brotherhood. We feel like we have to show up for our brother and our leader.
“The guys played inspired, the coaches did a great job this week. Players did a good job of staying focused on what we can control.”
The key moment in the game came midway through the second quarter. One play after Upland (4-3) took a 7-6 lead on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Noah Sandoval to Theo Thompson, Gutierrez returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. Damien (25) never trailed again.
“I knew if I get the ball in my hands, I think I can score anytime,” Gutierrez said. “I saw a hole open up, one cut and I was out. They weren’t going to catch me.”
Said Stewart: “He’s our guy. He does a phenomenal job in all three phases . ... He’s the type of player we all love to have around.”
Damien increased the lead to 20-7 on the opening drive of the second half when Dylan Gutierrez connected with Connor May on a 50-yard touchdown pass.
After Upland closed the gap to 20-10, Stewart was faced with his first big strategic decision. Faced with a fourth-and-3 at the Upland 5 on the second play of the fourth quarter, Stewart chose to go for it, in order to put the Spartans up by three scores instead of two.
The pass came up short, but Damien put the game away a few minutes later.
Kingston “Lucky” Schirmer intercepted a pass and returned it 67 yards, coming up 3 yards short of the goal line. After a penalty, Ayden Gutierrez’s third touchdown put the Spartans up 27-10 with 6:05 to play.
Upland scored with 2:42 to play on another touchdown pass to Theo Thompson, but the onside kick went out of bounds, and Damien was able to run almost all of the remaining time off the clock.
Ayden Gutierrez carried 23 times for 115 yards to lead Damien, including 15 carries for 82 yards in the second half. Dylan Gutierrez completed 5 of 9 passes for 93 yards. Damien did not turn the ball over.
Upland’s rushing attack was led by Ricky Allen, who had 20 carries for 101 yards. Sandoval threw for 117 yards for Upland, but completed only 10 of 21 passes and was intercepted twice.