 |
Pre-Season
Games
|
 |
 Campolindo
(8/29)
Hornets
vs. Cougars
Scrimmage-only.
Encinal
(9/5)
 Hornets
10, Jets 38
Encinal off to fast start with rout over Alameda
By Jimmy Durkin - ccTimes
9/05/2008
ALAMEDA — Last year, the Encinal High
football team flew under the radar a bit en route to a 9-3 campaign that
included a playoff victory.
All eyes are on the Jets to do big things
again this year, and they didn't disappoint in the opener. Senior
Dominique Sashington had three touchdowns and senior quarterback Jonathan
Brown rushed for 130 yards and a score as Encinal routed rival Alameda
38-10 in the annual Island Bowl.
"We feel a lot of pressure,"
Sashington said. "We know people expect a lot out of us. We expect a
lot out of ourselves, too."
It figures to be a rebuilding year for the
Hornets (0-1), who have a lot of young players gaining experience at key
positions. While Alameda coach Steve Rochlin would've preferred a better
result, he was happy to see development from some players and came away
very impressed with Encinal (1-0).
"Encinal may not lose a game this
season," he said. "They played better than I've seen them play
in three or four seasons.
"We'll get better," he added.
"We're young. We're still learning how to play."
Sashington got his season off with a bang
by intercepting a pass on the game's third play from scrimmage and
returning it 26 yards for a touchdown.
"That felt so good," said
Sashington, who added 72 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries.
"At our meeting (Thursday), that's all we were talking about —
setting the tone. That's all that was going through my head."
The Jets' Tyronne Duckett scored on a
17-yard run on Encinal's next possession to make it 14-0.
Alameda answered on its next drive when
Hornets junior quarterback Tim Han barrelled his way in from a yard out to
cut it to 14-7 late in the first.
Encinal's Corey Portis and Alameda's Edgar
Castaneda exchanged field goals (29 and 24 yard, respectively) before
Sashington closed the first-half scoring with a 37-yard TD run with 1:49
left.
Brown added an impressive 62-yard scoring
run on an option play in the third and Sashington scored from two yards
out in the fourth to take control for the Jets.
"This is what we've been working hard
all summer for," Brown said. "We knew we (had) to come out and
get a win. This is huge for us."
Duckett finished with 56 yard rushing for
Encinal on nine carries. The Jets combined for 209 yards on 35 carries.
 O'Dowd
(9/12)
Hornets 0, Dragons
48
Dragons Blank Hornets
Oakland Tribune
9/13/2008
After three straight opening-game losses to
the Hornets, the visiting Dragons erased those memories by trouncing the
Hornets.
Led by running backs Mario Brown (138
yards, four touchdowns) and Cherod Simpson (134 yards, one TD), O'Dowd
(1-0) put a resounding exclamation point on their season opener, their
size and speed being too much for a young and overmatched Alameda squad.
The Dragons marched downfield on their
first possession, Simpson scoring on a 62-yard run to give the Dragons all
the points they would need. A 14-yard touchdown pass from Matt Balich to
Chris Martin and a 16-yard scoring run by Brown gave the Dragons a 20-0
lead at the half.
The speedy Brown took over in the second
half, scoring three more times, his last on a 70-yard sprint over left
tackle.
But it was the Dragons' swarming defense,
led by Martin's twelve tackles, which controlled the game. Bishop O'Dowd
held the Hornets to 58 yards total offense. The Dragons allowed only six
completions while picking off two passes, the second a 60-yard
interception return for a touchdown by Quentin McWhorter as time expired.
 San
Lorenzo (9/19)
Hornets 22, Rebels
28
Hornets Still Winless
Oakland Tribune
9/20/2008
The Rebels rode a solid second half to
their first victory since 2006 in a hard fought game in Alameda.
Led by quarterback Nick Stewart (10-of-16,
144 yards, one touchdown) and receiver Cory Hall (two TDs), San Lorenzo
(1-1) out-hit and out-hustled the Hornets in the second half.
Alameda (0-3) struck first on a first
quarter 13-yard pass from quarterback Tom Ruckman to Qais Shaghasi, but
the Rebels answered, forcing a Ruckman fumble that Hall picked up and
carried 60 yards for a score to make it 7-6 as the quarter ended.
The Hornets seemed in control after Ruckman
scored on a keeper to put his team ahead 14-7 at the half.
But San Lorenzo came out aggressively after
the break, forcing Alameda into consecutive three-and-outs, while their
passing game moved the ball. Tight end Marcos Mosi caught four passes for
first downs, and Stewart tied the game 14-14 on a third-quarter sneak from
the 1-yard line.
On the next series, on a crucial
fourth-and-11, Stewart found Hall alone across the middle for a 30-yard
touchdown pass to give the Rebels a 22-14 lead with nine minutes
remaining, Hall running in the two-point conversion.
With two minutes left, Rebel Eric Johnson
scored on a 37-yard run to increase the lead to 28-14. Shagahsi scored on
a 6-yard pass from Ruckman with one second left to make the final 28-22,
ending San Lorenzo's 15-game losing streak.
 Milpitas
(9/26)
Hornets 7, Trojans
50
Hornets Still Seeking First
Win
Oakland Tribune
9/27/2008
Jonathan Fulbright
and Ben Pomele each ran for two touchdowns and quarterback Kent London
threw for two more as the Trojans (3-0) remained undefeated and sent the
visiting Hornets to their fourth straight loss.
Alameda gained 154 yards in total offense
but only 40 came in the first half as Milpitas took a 43-7 lead.
The highlight for the Hornets came when
they recovered an onside kick to open the game and then drove 48 yards in
seven plays to take a 7-0 lead. Jeremy Yu scored the touchdown on a
20-yard run.
~ Scott Strain
Campolindo
(8/29)
Hornets
vs. Cougars
Scrimmage-only.
Encinal
(9/5)
Hornets
22, Jets 8
Game summary
(if submitted) will go here.
O'Dowd
(9/12)
Hornets 16, Dragons
6
Facing Bishop O'Dowd in week 2, the JV
Hornets continued what they established week 1 against Encinal:
A smash-mouth running game. Led by Mike Cunningham's 189 yards and two
touchdowns, the Hornets amassed just under 220 rushing yards in clipping
the Dragons, 16-6. With the win, the Hornets moved to 2-0 on the season,
with wins over two of the three teams that defeated the JV Hornets in
2007.
Playing without quarterback/team captain
Tom Ruckman, who was called-up to the varsity roster, the JV Offense did
not miss a step. John Ruck stepped in and looked like he had been playing
QB for years. Aside from a 4 for 6 passing night, Ruck showed poise,
composure and maturity beyond his years in guiding the offense. The
O-line, playing without stalwart Victor Tran (injury), continued to
improve behind anchor Ian McClens, and generally man-handled a much bigger
O'Dowd defensive line. Daniel Lyons-Lau led the receiving corps with three
catches and a couple of big first downs.
On defense, Kyle Bridges was all over the
field, recording 12 tackles, including three for losses. Andrew Wu, Kawika
Baculpo, Jay Moody, Alex Silva and Lyons-Lau all played a huge role as
well in shutting O-Dowd out after their first drive resulted in a TD.
The JVs look to move to 3-0 on the season
this Friday against San Lorenzo, again at 4:30 at Thompson Field.
San
Lorenzo (9/19)
Hornets 45, Rebels
19
The Hornets show-cased a plethora of
offensive weapons, and played just enough defense, in cruising to a 45-19
victory Friday night over a tough San Lorenzo Rebels team. The JV Hornets
played a near perfect game offensively, scoring touchdowns on each
possession aside from a first-half two minute drill, when time expired
with the Hornets at the San Lorenzo 5, and the final drive of the game,
when they took two knees at the San Lorenzo 5-yard line to end the game.
The offensive line of RoRo Lyons, Alex
Silva, Jay Moody, Raymar Hardy, Kawika Baculpo and Oscar Reyna was
dominant all night, pushing the team to 16 yards per rush and allowing
zero sacks. Mike Cunningham led the charge when he had the ball in his
hands, showing power, speed and vision on his way to 254 yards and 4 TDs
on only 9 carries. Omar Himed chipped in with 67 yards and a TD on 7
carries and 3 catches for 27 yards and another score. In the passing game,
John Ruck finished with a perfect QB rating, throwing 9 times and
completing 7 passes for 164 yards and a score. Daniel Lyons-Lau led all
receivers with 114 yards on 3 catches. In all, the offense put up 544
yards, 6 touchdowns, 4 two-point conversions and a PAT.
The play of the game for the Hornets came
after an impressive goal-line stand gave them the ball at their own 1-yard
line. The Hornets apparently didn't like playing with their backs up
against the wall. After a San Lorenzo timeout, the Hornets broke the
huddle with a visible sense of urgency. Cunningham took a handoff over
left guard, beat a linebacker through the seam and cutback on another LB
and a safety. From there, all he saw was daylight as the speedy back
coasted the next 75 yards to complete the scoring for the Hornets on a
99-yard TD rush.
Next week the 3-0 JV Hornets take on a
quality Milpitas team at 5:00 in Milpitas.
Milpitas
(9/26)
Hornets 52, Trojans
22
Through the first three games of the
season, the Hornet offense established a run-first, pound the rock
mentality. That identity remained true Friday night in Milpitas against a
tough Trojan unit. Led by RoRo Lyons and Alex Silva, the JV O-line helped
an array of running backs to 389 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns in pacing
a 52-22 victory.
Mike Cunningham and the O-line set the
tone early, as Cunningham took a handoff off left tackle and outran
everybody for 68 yards and a TD on the first play from scrimmage. John
Ruck put the Hornets up 8-0 on a QB keeper for the conversion. Milpitas
did not roll over, though. After a solid kickoff return, the Trojans moved
the ball methodically downfield, finally scoring on an end around from 15
yards out. They also converted the two-pointer to tie the game at 8
apiece.
The Hornets got the ball back, ready to
get their offense rolling again. But after an incomplete pass and two
short runs, the Hornets were forced to punt after their first 3-an-out in
two games. Milpitas continued to march downfield, with their drive
culminating in what appeared to be an 8 yard TD pass. But the TD was
called back on offensive pass interference, and on 4th and goal from the
23, the Hornets forced a turnover on downs.
At this point, the Hornets woke up and
decided to make this game theirs. Alameda went straight down the field on
an 88-yard scoring drive that ended when Tuan Vo scored from four yards
out. On Milpitas' next possession, Peni Mesui picked off a pass and
returned it 32 yards to the Milpitas 14, leaving a trail of Milpitas
tacklers on their backs in the process. On the next play, John Ruck found
a wide-open Frank Mai across the middle for a 14-yard TD and a 22-8 Hornet
lead.
The Hornet Defense stiffened on the next
several drives, and Cunningham began to exert his will on offense as the
Hornets pulled away. Alameda scored every time they touched the ball after
that 3-and-out, aside from two drives that ended in kneel-downs.
Cunningham finished with 254 yards and four touchdowns (68, 51, 25 and 51
yards) on 16 carries. Sam Uyeno had 3 carries for 50 yards and Calvin Danh
had 2 for 35. John Ruck had another impressive day through the air,
completing 3 of 5 passes for 54 yards and a TD, while also scoring on a
rush and putting away 4 two-point conversions.
On defense, Kyle Bridges led the charge
with his speed rush off the edge. Bridges had a sack and a couple tackles
for losses, while forcing two other sacks and many rushed passes
(including a hit on the QB for Mesui's INT). Daniel Lyons-Lau was a
tackling machine, finishing with 15 on the day.
Campolindo
(8/29)
Hornets
vs. Cougars
Scrimmage-only.
Berkeley
(9/4)
 Hornets
vs. Yellowjackets
Game summary (if
submitted) will go here.
O'Dowd
(9/11)
Hornets
vs. Dragons
Game summary (if
submitted) will go here.
San
Lorenzo (9/18)
Hornets vs. Rebels
Game summary (if
submitted) will go here.
Milpitas
(9/27)
Hornets
vs. Trojans
Game summary (if
submitted) will go here.
| 
