The football team defeated Dougherty Valley on November 1, 49-14. The game was played at Dougherty Valley.
By virtue of their victory, Campolindo earned the Diablo Foothill Athletics League title.
Before the game, defensive back, punter, and wide receiver Justin Dunn said Campo’s defensive game plan was similar to previous match ups. “They [Dougherty Valley] run the ball a lot. We are going with the same game plan as we did against Acalanes and Alhambra, who both ran the ball a lot. We would like to move on and get to 9-0,” he said. He also wanted the defense to play extremely hard.
Quarterback Andrew Zolintakis threw a 7 yard pass to Dunn for a touchdown with 9:50 left in the 1st quarter. Dougherty Valley was intercepted on their 1st offensive play. On the next play, Zolintakis pass was caught by receiver Hunter Rosenbaum for a 51 yard touchdown reception with 9:33 left in the 1st quarter. Dougherty Valley punted on the next drive. Campolindo was forced to punt as well, even though Dougherty Valley was called for an offsides penalty.
Head coach Kevin Macy was proud of how his team started out the game. “Most of our games we have been slow. We have had a lot of games whew we have given up the first drive for a touchdown. So, it was important for us to get off to a fast start,” he said.
With 14 seconds left in the 1st quarter, Dougherty Valley turned the ball over on downs.
With 10:10 left in the 2nd quarter, Campo turned the ball over on downs due to an incomplete pass. Dougherty Valley punted after the turnover. Zolintakis then scored a touchdown on a 14 yard run.
The score was 0-21 with 4:43 left in the 2nd quarter. Dougherty Valley punted the ball on 4th down, but Campo dropped the punt. However, the dropped punt was regained by Campo. With 2:00 left in the 1st half, Zolintakis completed a 48 yard pass to Dunn for a touchdown.
Zolintakis believes that Dunn was a great target. “H was just open. He is a good fast, big target. He gets open real well,” he said.
The score was now 28-0 in favor of the Cougars. Dougherty Valley punted on the next drive. With 11 seconds left, Zolintakis completed another pass to Dunn for a touchdown. On the 1st play after the kickoff, Dougherty Valley scored a touchdown.
In total, Dunn caught 4 touchdown passes. Zolintakis threw for 4 touchdowns, and scored on a quarterback run. Macy believed that it was important for Zolintakis and Dunn to play well. “Dunn had an incredible night. Zolintakis had his usual steady performance,” he said.
Zolintakis believes the team played well on the offense. “Pretty much everywhere we executed well. Line blocked well; it gave me time. Receivers ran good routes. Running backs ran well. Everything was clicking offensively,” he said.
Junior Jack Stevens replaced Zolintakis, because Campo had a large lead. Campo fumbled the ball with 11 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.
However, Dougherty Valley was forced to punt after the fumble recovery. Campo scored a touchdown with 8:24 left in the 4th quarter.
With 5 minutes left in the game, Dougherty Valley fumbled on a handoff. Campo punted with 1:54 left in the 4th quarter. Dougherty Valley did not score before the game ended. Campo defeated Dougherty Valley by a score of 14-49.
Macy believed the team can still improve after the victory. “We have to fill out our receiving core,” he said.
Dougherty Valley will play at Las Lomas on November 8. Dougherty Valley dropped to 4-5 after the loss. Campo will host Dublin on November 8, which will be the last home game in the regular season for the Cougars.
For now, Campo stays undefeated with a 9-0 record, a league title under their belt.
