CERRITOS - For the second week in a row, Gahr High had its opponent right where it wanted them early in the fourth quarter. This time, though, the Gladiators were able to hold on.
Senior quarterback Casey Nielsen threw for 331 yards and three touchdowns, but it was the defense that buckled down at the end to help Gahr escape with a 24-23 nonleague victory over visiting La Palma Kennedy on Thursday night.
Like in the season-opening loss against Millikan, the Gladiators (1-1) held a two-TD lead, 24-10, over the Irish (0-2) in the fourth quarter. But Kennedy rallied on a 1-yard TD plunge by QB Andy Peterson and a 34-yard catch and run by DJ Boulton to pull within 24-23 with 6:35 remaining in the game.
Irish coach Brit Johnson opted for a possible go-ahead 2-point conversion, but Peterson was stopped shy of the end zone pylon.
But Kennedy wasn't done yet. The Irish got the ball back with 2:53 left and marched it all the way down the field before the Gladiators forced a Boulton to attempt a 43-yard field goal with 26.3 seconds to go. The kick was wide right.
"We are trying to manage the game, but we can't do it," said Gahr coach Gregg Marshall.
That lack of game management, according to Marshall, rests on the offense.
Nielsen, who went 18-30-1, threw TD passes of 32, 35 and 50 yards to Shaan Johnson (8 catches for 201 yards) and Marcos Torres nailed a 33-yard field goal to help the Gladiators take a 24-7 lead 3:20 into the third quarter.
But the offense ceased to do much else from there, putting the pressure on the defense to perform.
"We can't put a team away. We have to figure out how to do that," Marshall said. "Our offense can't seem to keep it rolling. The offense has to find a way to stay hot."
The defense was rather solid. It was able to shut down the Irish offense for the most part, but got into trouble with the slippery Peterson began to scramble. Peterson finished 23of-45 for 229 yards passing and two TDs and added 75 yards rushing and another score. Other than him, Kennedy gained just 27 yards.
"That QB is a pain," Marshall said. "(When he is scrambling,) there's no defense for that."
Leave a comment