South City Retains the Bell

Running the rock was the main mode of offense for both teams as Brandon Gip carried the load for the Colts offense and Maligi Maluia and Michael Fuimaono helped lead the charge for the Warriors offense.

The Colts set the tone early after the Warriors went 3 and out, using a balanced rushing attack that included Gip, John Turner, and Danny Ruiz that bullied the Warriors defense until the drive stalled out after a missed field goal.

Mistakes were a theme in the game as both teams had their mistakes including a muffed punt, a blocked extra point and a red zone interception for the Warriors as well as a missed extra point and a fumbled snap on a punt for the Colts.

The Warriors were on the board 1st as a turnover lead to a Maluia TD run but the Colts came right back with a fake punt run TD by Gip at the 5:54 mark into the 2nd Quarter but with the aforementioned blocked extra point.

The offenses struck quickly after that as a fumbled snap on a punt gave the Warriors excellent field position which was capped by a TD run from Maluia.

The Colts came back with a short pass from Michael Keegan to Brandon Gip where Gip showed off his quickness, weaving his way down the sideline for a TD which tied the game before a successful 2 point conversion gave the Colts the lead.

The 2nd half had the defenses step up as both teams’ rushing attacks were slowed down by the opposing defenses and turnovers lead to short fields for both teams.

The players were feeling winded as there were several injury timeouts in the 2nd half as the winds picked up and the day got colder. The winds might have been gusty but that is not what led to the poor passing performances from Michael Keegan and Maligi Maluia as both Quarterbacks were inaccurate, throwing the ball behind or way over the head of their intended recievers.

They could still grind it out on the ground and after the Warriors took the lead with a touchdown from running back Dupra Goodman and a successful 2 point conversion, the Colts marched down the field as Gip continued to shoulder the load to try and carry his team to their first Bell Game win in 10 years.

The Colts offense got the ball to inside the South San Francisco 5 yard line and was in position to kick a game winning field goal before a crucial delay of game penalty set them back 5 yards. That might have iced the kicker as Abel Campos missed the game winning field goal, clinching South San Francisco’s 10th win in a row in this rivalry.