Alameda High Football: Special Teams Come Through in 20-19 Win Against Newark

Alameda 20, Newark Memorial 18

Stars - Ryan Carlson and David Elzig each blocked Newark kicks to preserve the win.

The Quote — "We're not big, fast, or strong, but we play as one." —  Alameda head coach Steve Rochlin.

Whats next — Alameda will play at Bishop O'Dowd on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

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If the Alameda High football team's season opener is any indication of how its season will go, Hornets fans can expect to spend a lot of time on the edge of their seats. Alameda blocked not one, but two kicks — the second with 49 seconds left in the game — in a 20-19 non-league victory at Newark Memorial on Friday. 

The Hornets and Cougars were deadlocked at 13-13 late in the third quarter before Alameda running back Michael Cunningham II burst over left tackle to score from 15 yards out. It was his second score of the night and gave the Hornets a 20-13 lead heading into the final period. 

Newark responded by taking its opening fourth-quarter drive the distance, with Osana Futi finding the endzone to pull the Cougars within a point.  Anthony Pietrobono drilled home the extra point to tie the game at 20-20, but the Cougars were called for too many men on the field and the second attempt was blocked by Alameda's Ryan Carlson leaving the Hornets with a one-point lead. 

Alameda was unable to muster any offense on its next two possessions and Newark found itself at the Hornets' 35-yard line with four minutes, 22 seconds to go.  Nine plays later, the Cougars found themselves with a fourth down at the Hornets one-yard line, and elected to try the field goal instead of punching it in.  David Elzig burst through the line and blocked the kick to save the game for Alameda. 

"I was able to jump off my nose tackle's back, get my arms up, and get the block for us," Elzig said. 

Alameda had gotten off to a quick start, as John Ruck intercepted Cougars' quarterback Nick Pohndorf on the first play of the game, setting up Cunningham for a one-yard scoring run to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead.  But Alameda saw the lead evaporate as the Cougars scored on a Pohndorf to Jacob Rael connection of 25 yards and a Jesse Tate scoring run to lift Newark to a 13-10 halftime lead.

Donte Cullins gave the Hornets a huge spark by taking the second-half kickoff all the way to the Cougars' 13-yard line, setting Armando Leon's second field goald of the night to tie the game at 13-13.

Cunningham led Alameda's ground game with 77 yards on 19 carries, while quarterback Tom Ruckman completed 11 of 19 passes for 91 yards.

"We asked this team to do one thing," Hornets' head coach Steve Rochlin said, "We asked them to believe in themselves.  Overall, we are very pleased to have this kind of success against a very good Newark team.  We played about 30 guys tonight, and I believe that will help us down the road."

The Hornets will look to move to 2-0 with a game at Bishop O'Dowd on Saturday.

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Alameda 20, Newark Memorial 19

Alameda 7 3 10 0 — 20

Newark Memorial 7 6 0  6 — 19

Scoring Summary

6:54, 1st: A — Cunningham 1 run (Leon kick)

2:10, 1st: NM — Rael 25 pass from Pohndorf (Pietrobono kick)

11:00, 2nd: NM — Tate 7 run (run failed)

0:09, 2nd: A — FG Leon 25

9:52, 3rd, A — FG Leon 22

3:55, 3rd, A — Cunningham 15 run (Leon kick)

9:52, 4th, NM — Futi 1 run (kick blocked)

Individual statistics 

Rushing:  A - Cunningham 19-77, Cullins 5-9, Ruckman 7-7, Ruck 2-4, Manibuson 1-2.  NM - Reams 16-95, Munoz 14-61, Tate 4-14, Rockwell 2-8, Futi 2-3.

Passing:  A - Ruckman 11-19-91-0, Ruck 1-5-4-0.  NM - Pohndorf 7-13-104-2.

Receiving:  A - Hasseeb 3-41, Ruck 3-20, Alfers 3-13, Mai 1-13, Carlson 1-8, Uyeno 1-0.  NM - Rael 3-54, Tai 2-30, Reams 1-11, Munoz 1-9. 

Team Offense (rushing/passing/total)

Alameda — 99-95-194

Newark Memorial — 181-104-285

Fumbles/Lost:  A - 0/0, NM - 2/0

Records:  Alameda 1-0;  Newark Memorial 0-1

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