Football: Alameda Falls to San Lorenzo in Thrilling Shootout

San Lorenzo 28, Alameda 21

The Star:  San Lorenzo tight end Marcus Mosi and caught the go-ahead touchdown, his second of the game, with under a minute left in the fourth quarter to seal a Rebels win.

 The Turning Point: The Rebels final drive. San Lorenzo held possession for nearly 10 of the 12 minutes in the fourth quarter, sealing the win with a 19-play, 80-yard drive with Mosi's touchdown catch off a quick pass from quarterback Brandin Murphy.

The Quote: "If you were there, you saw the way the game was officiated. That's all I could say." — Alameda head coach Steve Rochlin

What's Next: The Hornets will have their hands full with rival Encinal next week in the "Island Bowl."

Bottom Line: After losing to Bishop O'Dowd 59-10 last week, the Hornets proved on Friday night that they still have a lot of fight in them.  Senior quarterback Tom Ruckman proved he can effectively lead his team through long drives, despite some things not going in the offenses favor. 

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After losing by 49 to Bishop O'Dowd last week, the Alameda High football team came out against the San Lorenzo Rebels on Friday night with one thing on their mind: winning.

At first, it didn't seem like the Hornets fully recovered from the 49-point disaster as they were forced to punt away on their first drive.

The defense didn't show too much promise of a turnaround either as it allowed the Rebels to take the early lead off of a one-yard touchdown run by senior fullback Dee Choon to open the second quarter.

However, the Hornets blocked the following point-after try to keep the Rebels lead at 6-0.

Then Alameda showed the home crowd what its made of.

"We were ready to play," said Alameda head coach Steve Rochlin.

Senior quarterback Tom Ruckman led the Hornets on a seven-play, 70-yard drive and capped it with a nine-yard touchdown run by running back Michael Cunningham.  The Hornets capitalized on the point-after and took a 7-6 lead midway through the second quarter.

"I thought he did a great job," Rochlin said about his quarterback.

The Hornets defense picked up the momentum the offense brought as Alameda picked off Rebels junior quarterback Brandin Murphy on the following San Lorenzo drive.  Murphy was looking for senior tight end Marcus Mosi on a post between two safeties, but cornerback Donte Cullins tipped the pass and picked off the ball to end the Rebels drive.

But the shift in momentum ended quickly for Alameda as San Lorenzo held the Hornets to a three-and-out on the upcoming drive.

Then the shootout began.

The Rebels capitalized off the defense's effort on the three-and-out and took the lead off an 18-yard touchdown pass by Murphy to Mosi with 29 seconds left in the half.

The Hornets fought right back.

Cunningham took the following kickoff 69 yards to the Rebels 22-yard line, and Ruckman led the Hornets offense to the lead with a touchdown pass to tight end Safi Hasseeb as time expired in the half to give Alameda a 14-13 lead.

"It was a lot of hard-work and leadership," Ruckman said.   

The Hornets built their lead to eight points late in the third quarter on a 15-yard touchdown run by Cunningham.

Wide reciever Ryan Carlson was called for a questionable offensive pass interference penalty while he caught what would've been a 12-yard touchdown pass from Ruckman on a fade route in the back corner of the end zone.

 "If you were there, you saw the way the game was officiated. That's all I could say,"  Rochlin said.

"I don't really know what to say about that, but we played as hard as we could," Ruckman said.

The Rebels took advantage of the Hornets frustrations on the questionable officiating and tied the game at 21-21 whem Murphy tossed his second touchdown of the game. This time he found senior wideout Eric Johnson on a quick hitch and Johnson did the rest, running 18 yards for the score.  Murphy ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game.

Alameda tried to respond on the following drive, however was forced to punt after Ruckman's pass to wideout Zac Alfers fell incomplete.

The Rebels took charge for the rest of the quarter, scoring the go-ahead touchdown on Murphy's third touchdown pass of the game, this one an eight-yard toss to Mosi to put San Lorenzo up 28-21.  The Rebels converted a fourth-and-inches deep in their own territory during a 19-play, 80-yard drive.

"We take it one game at a time," Rochlin said.  "This is still the pre-season, what counts is the league."

 "We're going to bounce back and we're going to come back better," Ruckman said.

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San Lorenzo 28, Alameda 21

San Lorenzo 6  7  0  15 — 28

Alameda 7  7  7  0 — 21

Scoring Summary

1st: SL- Choon 1 yd run (PAT blocked)

1st: A- Cunningham 9 yd run

2nd: SL- Murphy 18 yd pass to Mosi (PAT good)

2nd: A- Ruckman 5 yd pass to Hasseeb (PAT good)

3rd: A- Cunningham 14 yd run (PAT good)

4th: SL- Murphy 18 yd pass to Johnson (Two-point good)

4th: SL- Murphy 8 yd pass to Mosi (PAT good)

Individual Statistics:

Rushing (car-yards):

A - Cunningham 12-140, Ruck, 3-30, Ruckman 6-25, Carlson 1-23, Alfers 1-5, Awa 1- (-1)

Passing (comp-att-yds-int)

A- Ruckman 8-10-120

Receiving (rec-yards)

A- Hasseeb- 3-30,Carlson 2-21, Alfers- 2-15, Cunningham 3-13

Team offense (rushing-passing-total)

A- 234-135-369

Records:

San Lorenzo 2-0  Alameda 1-2

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